


Family Of Anarchy

by Vnav11



Series: Juice and Mia Series [1]
Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-03-19 04:53:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 67,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13697265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vnav11/pseuds/Vnav11
Summary: When Mia rolled into town to take care of her niece, she never expected the little girl to be linked to the SOA. She never thought her family would involve themselves in her life, and she never believed that the Sons would become so important to her. Juice/OC, Happy/OC, Jax/OC.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but my own characters.

 

Gemma was stood in the waiting room as Wendy was in with her OBGYN getting her first ultra-sound. She couldn't believe that after finally managing to pry her son away from the junkie bitch, Wendy had managed to get pregnant, with Jax's baby no less. If she'd known that Wendy's appointment was today she would have been in there with her son's ex, but she'd only found out when one of the nurses (who spent her nights being a crow eater) had called her after Wendy had arrived at the hospital. If she wasn't afraid that the slightest amount of stress would send Wendy back to shooting up, she would have stormed in there, but she was choosing to be the bigger person and waited outside instead. She was torn from her thoughts however, when she heard yelling coming from one of the rooms down the hall, and saw an older couple be thrown out of a room, when they tried to go back in security escorted them from the hospital. She saw the nurses whisper amongst themselves and she realised who the couple were. The Sutherlands, they had been in Charming almost as long as the Oswald's, everyone knew who they were. The couple had always thought they were better than everyone, they saw themselves above everyone, including the Oswald's. And because everyone knew who they were, everyone knew why they were in the hospital. Their daughter had overdosed on prescription pills while her three-year-old kid was in the house, and she had been brought to the hospital to have her stomach pumped. What Gemma didn't know however, was why they'd just been thrown out of their daughter's hospital room, but if there was one thing she was good at, it was finding shit out that people would rather stayed buried.

* * *

Mia stood at the foot of her sister's bed, she had already been on her way to Charming when she'd heard what her moronic sibling had done. By the time she'd reached St Thomas, her lawyer had already drawn up papers naming her the legal guardian of her niece Zoe and ones that said that her sister Ava relinquished her rights as Zoe's sole parent. If her sister wanted to ruin her life, then that was fine, but she wasn't about to let her ruin Zoe's life, there was no way in hell that was going to happen. So when she arrived at the hospital she'd managed to distract her sister's parents with a CPS employee who wanted to take Zoe away from the family, and headed upstairs. When Mia showed Ava the papers, her little sister had shaken her head and refused to sign them, as siblings the two weren't close, as children they'd been raised in the foster system in England, until one day the Sutherland's had come to town and adopted a four-year-old Ava, leaving a seven-year-old Mia behind.

"You're really going to leave this up to chance?" Mia asked, "CPS is downstairs right now, they're not going to leave Zoe with you or your parents, at least with me you know she'll be safe."

"She's my daughter," Ava protested.

"Yeah, and no one is going to believe that she'll be safe with you, a pill popping, drug dealing, alcoholic."

"And you think you can do better?! Your life has always been so easy hasn't it?" Ava sneered, ever since she'd been reunited with her sister she'd always felt jealous of her. Mia had a successful life, she wasn't burdened with an unwanted child, she wasn't an addict and whatever it was that she did for a living kept her in the green all the time.

"Easy?" Mia scoffed, "Easy! You call being raised in the system easy? You were too young to remember what living in those homes was like, you know why, because you were adopted, and the people that adopted you weren't neglectful, they weren't abusive. They put you in the best schools and gave you everything you ever wanted, you're the one that got pregnant by a man you don't know, you're the one decided to get hooked on drugs. You screwed yourself, I'm not about to let you fuck up Zoe's life. Now are you going to sign the papers of your own volition or do I have to make you?"

"She can stay with my parents," Ava said, "they can be her guardians."

"Your parents knew you were screwed up and still let her stay with you, you're signing the papers and I'm going to take care of Zoe."

"That's not happening." Ava replied, she tried to be strong, but she didn't know her sister, if she had, she would have just signed the papers and been free.

Mia looked at the pathetic image her sister made in the hospital bed and cruel smile spread across her face, reaching into her bag she took a file and threw it in her sister's face, and as Ava read through it her face became pale. "What is this?"

"Evidence that you've been buying your drugs from some known, and unknown dealers in and out of Charming, evidence that you've been selling drugs to minors, if you don't sign those papers, I'm going to make sure that these make their way to the District Attorney, and you will end up in jail for a very long time, not even Mommy and Daddy's money will get you out of the hole that I put you in. Now it's your choice, jail time, or the ability to live your life child free?"

Her green eyes burned into her little sister's matching ones, the only thing that shared apart from their mother's DNA, Mia knew that she had her, there was no way that Ava was going to risk prison just so she could keep her kid. Sighing Ava broke eye contact with her older sister and picked up the papers that she'd been handed before and signed them, from that moment she was no longer a mother to her daughter, and despite the fact that she resented the fact that her sister had gotten what she wanted, Ava had never felt more relief in that moment.

Smirking, Mia snatched the documents from Ava's hands before she could change her mind and stuffed them in her bag, she would pick up Zoe and get them sent off to her lawyer immediately, she'd never planned on having kids, but Zoe was her blood, and she would take care of her as if she were her own. "Pleasure doing business with you sis." And with those final words, Mia walked out of her sister's life.

It was only a few minutes after she'd left, that Ava's parents walked in, and when they'd heard what their daughter had done they had screamed at her, screamed and cried and begged her to tell them that she hadn't done what she'd said she had. They'd been escorted out by security and soon after were on the phone with their lawyer, trying to undo what they believed was their daughter's biggest mistake.

* * *

Mia stood at the window of a room in the only decent hotel in Charming, Zoe was asleep in the bed, it was clear that the girl didn't have the most stable childhood, she hadn't even questioned it when she'd been picked up by an aunt that she'd never met before. Sighing she moved over to the bed and crawled in beside her niece. With her niece living in Charming, Mia had decided that it would be prudent to have a house there, so she'd bought one six months ago, but it had required plenty of work to be done to it in order to get it up to standard. That was why she was already on her way to the small town; the contractors had finished their work and she was going to check it out and furnish the place. Tomorrow she would have to get the place set up to live in and with no one to watch Zoe it would be a long day for both of them tomorrow, she'd didn't know the first thing about kids, but she'd learn fast.

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but my own characters.

It had taken two days, but the house was cleaned and furnished with all the basics that she and Zoe needed. Mia had made a stop at her sister's place and picked up as much as she could for Zoe, but it didn't look like Ava had been keeping up with her daughter's needs. There were barely any toys in the house, and the clothes that she could find barely fit her niece, she would need to go shopping today for the little girl. Sighing she looked over at the child that was currently watching Spongebob Squarepants on her phone, she couldn't understand how Ava could possibly have screwed up her life and that of her child's so much. Ava had lived a blessed life, too young to remember what her actual parents were like, and old enough that a couple like the Sutherlands, who didn't want the hassle of dealing with a new born baby, would take her in. Anything that she'd wanted she's got, even the things she didn't want, like a good education and healthcare, she'd got. Mia's life had been very different, she bit, clawed, and scratched her way out of the hole her mother had left her in, at seven years old she remembered the kind of life she'd had before being thrown in the system, and it wasn't good, it wasn't safe, it wasn't happy, and foster care wasn't any different for her. Logically it made no sense, she grew up on the streets, she should have been the single mother hooked on drugs, instead it was the one who'd grown up with everything that had chosen to throw it all away.

Moving over to her niece, Mia put the shoes and coat that barely fit on Zoe and walked out of the house, she buckled Zoe into the car and pulled out of the driveway. She was headed towards the centre of the little town when the car made a funny noise and started smoking from under the hood, "Shit," Mia muttered, causing the little girl in the back to burst into giggles, "Swearing is not funny baby." Mia pulled the car to the side of the road and lifted up the hood, allowing the smoke to billow out. "Damnit! There's no way we're going anywhere today." Frowning she slammed the hood down and pulled her phone out of her pocket, there was only one garage in town and she really hoped that they had a tow truck available.

Twenty minutes later Mia was sat in a tow truck with Zoe on her lap, sitting next to a heavily tattooed man in the driver seat. Zoe couldn't stop staring at him, he hadn't said anything, but her wide eyes were locked onto him, or more accurately onto the snake that was on his head. Mia couldn't look at either of them though, she could feel the guy getting more tense with every second Zoe was looking at him and knew that he couldn't say anything to her, (she was three after all). And as the tension grew in the front of the truck, Mia was just trying really hard not to laugh. The tension was broken however when Zoe leant over the gearshift to get a closer look at his tattoos. "Zoe!" Mia hissed, pulling her niece back away from the driver, "What are you doing?"

"Auntie Mia! It's a snake!" the little girl pointed at the guy's tattoo.

"I know baby, but you shouldn't get to close, it might eat you." Mia stifled her laugh at the growl the guy let out. And the child looked back at her aunt.

"Is it like your dragon?" she asked looking down at one of the legs she was sitting on.

"Exactly, if you get to close, it will come to life and it's favourite thing to eat is little kids who don't know the meaning of personal space."

The little girl looked up at her Aunt, "What does personal space mean?" and Mia couldn't help but grin down at her.

Before she could answer her niece, the tow truck pulled up to the 'Teller-Morrow' garage and the driver got out so fast she was sure the truck was still moving. "We'll talk about it later Sweetheart." Opening the door, she lifted the little girl off her lap so that they could get out and head to the office and book the car in. Zoe gripped her aunt's hand tighter as they walked over to the office, because of her mom the she'd very rarely left the house, and when she did it was to go to her grandparent's house. She'd never seen so many people in one place out in the open before and it was starting to scare her, when she caught sight of one of the mechanic's she froze, she'd seen that man before at her house with her momma, and she remembered her momma told her never to let him see her and what would happen to her if he did.

Mia could feel Zoe stop walking and looked down at her to see what was wrong, frowning at the fear on the little girl's face, she couched down so that she could look into her eyes. "What's up Sweetheart?" when Zoe's lower lip started to tremble, Mia's eyes widened, "Hey, there's no need for that," she smiled at her niece and pulled her closer for a hug, "you don't need to be scared here, I'm going to take care of you, I'm going to keep you safe Sweetie." Zoe's arms tightened around her neck and sighing she lifted her up and settled her on her hip. "It's ok Baby Girl, you're ok, no one's going to hurt you." Stroking her niece's wild dark hair she turned around and headed back towards the office ignoring the stares from the mechanics with a roll of her eyes, you'd think that they'd never seen a woman before.

Tig, Chibs and Jax watched the woman that had just stepped out of the tow truck. "Who's the new girl?" Jax asked Happy as he walked over to them.

The Nomad shrugged and pulled out a cigarette, "Didn't ask."

"Seriously?" Tig asked, Happy was never one to turn down the possibility of pussy and the piece that had just walked into the office was some seriously sexy pussy.

"Kid," was all Happy said as explanation.

Tig rolled his eyes, "Kid or not, that has gotta be one of the hottest mom's I've seen."

"Ah come off it Tig, she's clearly young enough to be your daughter, she's not gonna go for you." Jax smirked.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words Teller." Tig ran a hand through his messy hair and headed over to the office just as Gemma stepped out.

* * *

Gemma looked up as there was a knock on the door before the woman from the hospital walked in carrying who could only be Zoe Sutherland. "Hi," Mia said, shifting the girl on her hip, "I just had my car towed in, I assume I've gotta fill out some paperwork for you."

Gemma gave the woman a critical once over, before the other day in the hospital she'd never seen her before and Gemma prided herself on knowing who all the players in Charming were. And if this woman was associated with the Sutherlands in any way, then she was definitely a player in the small town. "Sure thing," she pulled out the standard paperwork for a tow and repair, "just fill these out and I'll get your car seen to, you can put the kid on the couch." She nodded to the two-seater that was against the wall opposite the desk; and Mia moved to put the little girl down.

Zoe wasn't having any of it though and refused to let go of her Aunt's neck, "Hey, Baby Girl, it's ok, I'm not going anywhere, I've just got to fill out this paperwork and get to get the car fixed or we're not going to be able to go shopping. Its okay Sweetheart, I'm right here, I just need my hands free." Zoe's grip started to loosen and let Mia put her on the couch.

Gemma watched as she dealt with the baby Sutherland and frowned in thought, who the hell was this? And why did she have the kid in the first place? She excused herself from the office and headed into the club to give the crow eater at the hospital a call and see if she had any other information to offer.

Mia looked up as one of the mechanic's walked in and held back a gasp, his eyes were the same shade of startling blue that Zoe's were, and his dark hair was equally as messy as the little girls. _'Shit, don't tell me that Ava banged this guy, he's old enough to be her dad.'_ She saw him give her a lecherous grin as he looked her up and down and rolled her eyes _'And now he's going to hit on me, great.'_ She thought.

"Well I haven't seen you around before, and I definitely would remember if I had." Tig grinned, moving closer to her.

"That's because I'm new," Mia said with a raised eyebrow. This guy was unquestionably a candidate for being Zoe's father, his eyes were such a rare shade of blue she wasn't sure how many other people had eyes and hair like his.

"Well I'm Tig, what's say I give you a tour of our _Charming_ little town and you and I can get to know each other better?"

Zoe had looked up at the sound of Tig's voice and when she caught sight of him she hopped of the couch and hid behind her Aunt. She buried her face in the back of Mia's legs throwing the young woman off guard for a moment. With a quick glance behind her to see what was wrong she turned back to the man in front of her. "That's not going to happen," she smirked.

"Awe why not Sweetheart, I'll promise I'll be gentle." He grinned, eyeing the way her legs looked in her skinny jeans.

"Three reasons, the first being you're scaring my kid, she moved to pick Zoe up and settle her on her hip again. Second, you're so not my type, I don't have daddy issues. And third, and this one's a really a doozey, I don't bang my sister's sloppy seconds."

Tig opened his mouth to respond when his blue eyes locked onto their mirror image belonging to the little girl on Mia's hip. He froze, there was no mistaking those eyes or that hair, but this couldn't be possible, he couldn't have another kid, no way, no how. Snapping his mouth shut he did an about face a practically bolted out of there.

Supressing a snort at his antics Mia sat Zoe on the couch again and looked into her eyes, "Want to tell me what you're so scared of? Has he hurt you before?"

Zoe shook her head and looked up at her Aunt, "Mommy used to bring him home; she said if he saw me then I'd be in trouble."

Mia frowned at that, there was no father's name on Zoe's birth certificate but maybe Ava did know who the father was, the question was, why would she keep it a secret from him? From the way that guy bolted out of the door she knew he didn't know about Zoe, but she also knew that to Ava, Zoe had been the biggest mistake of her life, so why wouldn't she tell him and foist her baby girl over to him? "Baby Girl, look at me, your mom isn't going to do a damn thing to you. She can't hurt you anymore, do you understand? You're never going back to her."

"Promise?" Zoe asked in a small voice, eyes welling up with tears, she hated her momma's house, it was cold and smelly and whenever momma's special friends came over she had to hide in the closet.

"I promise Sweetheart, now how about I finish off this paperwork, find out what's going on with the car and then you and I can go home and watch a movie."

"A princess movie?"

Mia grinned, "Any princess movie you want."

Grabbing the clipboard with the paperwork on she resumed filling it out, getting distracted when another man walked in, this one looked like a surfer boy, with his shoulder length blond hair, and pretty blue eyes, he was good looking, if you were into that sort of thing.

* * *

Jax, Happy and Chibs laughed as they saw Tig rush out of the office towards them like his arse was on fire. "Hey Tigger," Jax called, "was that good for you?" he took drag from the cigarette that hung between his lips and chuckled when Tig scowled at him.

Tig's mind was going a mile a minute, the kid in there was the spitting image of him, of that there was no doubt, but he wasn't an idiot, he wrapped his shit up, all the time, there was no way that she could be his. But then his mind flashed back to those stunning blue eyes, shit, he needed to talk to Gemma, she would know what to do. Vaguely hearing Jax's taunt he scowled at his VP, "If you think you can do better why don't you go and try."

"Don't mind if I do," Jax smirked, putting out his cigarette he sauntered over to the office.

10 minutes later Jax came out of the office with a scowl on his face, his brother's laughing at him as he made his way over to them. "Awe Jacky boy," Chibs said, mimicking him from earlier, "was that good for you?"

Happy snorted in amusement and sipped at his beer and Jax's frown, "She's gotta be into girls," Jax said, unwilling to believe that there was a woman in town that didn't fall for his good looks and charm.

"Keep telling yourself that," Happy smirked.

"Oh, what you want to give it a go?" Jax glared.

"I don't fuck bitches with kids," he replied and tilted his head back to finish off his beer.

Chibs couldn't stop laughing at his brother, Jax may have been his VP but he was still only 28 years old, and right now he was acting like a 16-year-old who'd just been shot down. Shaking his head at him, he spotted Juice coming out of the garage.

"Ah maybe this will make you feel better Jax, HEY JUICY BOY! OVER HERE!" he yelled. Juice was currently the youngest patched member of SAMCRO, at 27 the kid was a tech genius, but so socially awkward, Chibs was sure the boy only got any pussy because of the kutte on his back.

Juice made his way over to the guys with a smile on his face, "What's up guys?"

"Do me a favour would you lad, there's some paperwork in the office that I forgot to fill out, grab it for me? I'd do it meself but Gemma would kill me if she knew."

Juice shrugged, not really paying attention to the smirks on Happy and Jax's faces, "Sure." He jogged over to the office and opened the door, heading straight for the desk, completely missing that there was someone inside.

Mia looked up at the man who entered, this was her third interruption and she was totally going to bitch him out but when she laid eyes on him her mouth went dry. He was wearing mechanic's coveralls, but he'd shrugged out of the top half and tied the arms around his waist. Underneath all he was wearing was a white tank top streaked with grease that showed off his defined arms and did nothing to hide the abs that were underneath it. He had a couple of tattoos on his arms, but what really caught her eye was the two tribal lightning bolts on either side of his skull, framing a neatly trimmed Mohawk. He was Hispanic, that much she could tell just by looking at him, and she was trying very hard not do drool, the blond that had been in here earlier, while good looking, was not her type, but this guy definitely was. She found it difficult to tear her eyes away from him, and only managed to do so when she realised that Zoe was not sitting by her, but in fact tugging on the man's overall's trying to get his attention.

Juice was looking for the paperwork on the car that Chibs hadn't filled out when he felt something pulling at the leg of his overalls. Looking down he was surprised to find a little girl looking at up at him with big blue eyes, a little bewildered he looked back up to see if her parents were nearby. He was met by the site of beautiful, if not a little startled, green eyes. He let his eyes linger on the woman's for a moment, before trailing down the rest of her body. She was sat down so he couldn't tell how tall she was, but her legs looked like they went on for days, and the black tank top she was wearing did nothing to hide her fantastic rack from him. Letting his eyes slide back up to her face he took in her dark hair, caramel coloured skin, straight nose, and full lips that were begging to be wrapped around his cock. He was pulled out of his musing by the insistent tugging on his pant leg and he crouched down to get to eye level with the kid that was desperate to get his attention. "Now what can I do for you Princess?"

Zoe blushed and giggled at the man in front of her, no one had ever called her princess before, "Can I see your pictures?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Pictures?" Juice asked, confused for a moment before noticing her eyes on one of his tattoos, "You mean my tattoos?"

Mia held in a gasp at the smile he gave her niece as he crouched down to address her, she was a goner that much was for sure. When she heard him ask Zoe a question she shot up to make sure her niece was ok. "Sorry," she said a little embarrassed, it was one thing for Zoe to stare at the guy in the tow truck, it was a completely different thing for her to start asking questions to guys directly, especially guys she thought were hot as fuck. "She's a little obsessed with tattoos."

Juice looked up her and grinned, now that she was standing he could see her curves fully, he couldn't wait for her to turn around, so he could check out her arse. "It's cool," his smile widened when he saw her flush a little. He looked back down at the little girl and moved his arms forward, for her to get a closer look, "Which ones did you want to see?"

She reached out and touched the one on his left forearm, the reaper, before looking up at him and reaching out for his head tattoos, "It's like lightning!" she smiled over at Mia, "Look Auntie Mia it's lightning!" she frowned for a minute before looking back at Juice, "Why do you have lightning on your head?" Her head was tilted to the side and Juice was suddenly hit with how much she looked like Tig. _'Holy shit!'_ he thought.

"Um…"

"Well," Mia noticed he was struggling for an answer and answered for him, she picked up Zoe and swung her onto her hip, "It's because he's a huge fan of _The Flash_."

Zoe scrunched her face up in confusion, "What's _The Flash_?"

Mia laughed, "Ah kid, I have so much to teach you!"

Juice lit up like a Christmas tree, a hot chick, that wasn't a mom, and liked comic books? She was a wet dream come true. But then he looked back at the little girl and his smile died down a little, the girl had said that this chick, _Mia_ , was her aunt, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that the kid was Tig's, was Mia here to cause problems for his brother? He'd have to get her name off the garage paperwork and run it. "So uh," Juice cleared his throat, "what did you come in for?" he could have kicked himself for his moronic words, it was a garage and obviously the car that was attached to flat-bed was hers, but she didn't seem to pick up on his problem.

"Zoe and I were going shopping when my car just died, it had to be towed here. You don't think you could find out how long it's going to fix do you?"

"Sure, I'll check with one of the guys once they get it off the truck," Juice smiled again, he couldn't help it, she was cute and giving him her full attention, "So I haven't seen you round town, I mean I would definitely remember seeing someone as pretty as you before," his eyes widened as realised what he'd just said, "I mean, it's a pretty small town and I would just-" sighing his smile turned a little sheepish, "Are you new?"

Mia blushed a little at his words, it had been a while since she'd received male attention that she actually wanted, it was clear he hadn't meant to say what he did, so she just let him off. "Yeah, I just moved here, someone had to look after the munchkin here."

Juice's eyes were drawn once again to the kid on her hip, "You moved to look after your niece?"

"She's my family, she needed me." Mia shrugged.

That made him smile, if there was one thing that was important for all the Sons, it was family. "So do you have a place in Charming, or are you still looking?"

Mia shook her head, this dude was maybe a little too curious for her liking, she decided to feed him a little more info and see what he would do with it, "I have a place, got all the essentials set up and everything, just the luxuries to go now."

"Yeah, like what?"

"You know, TV, computer, game system, stuff like that…" she trailed off seeing Juice's eyes light up again, this guy might just be a closet nerd, it be easy to find out anything out from him, and any information this guy had on the one who'd run out earlier would be a great help. "I'm sorry, I just realised I never introduced myself. I'm Mia." She held her hand out to him and Juice shook it.

"Juice," he said, and she raised a brow at the odd name, "well it's not my real name, but everyone calls me Juice."

"Ok," Mia nodded taking her hand back.

"You know if you need any help setting things up at home, I'm pretty good with electronics." He offered, if she accepted then it meant that he could pull up any information on her faster, and the faster he could, the faster he could clear her of any suspicion, and once he did that, she was fair game again.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coveralls, "I'm pretty much the tech guy around here."

"Well I might just take you up on that." Mia smiled, if she could get him away from the garage, she could pump him for information much easier and then she could go back to just flirting with him like a normal person. She grabbed a pen, and a Teller-Morrow card from the desk and wrote down her number before handing it to him. "Call me."

"Definitely," Juice said taking the card from her and moving to put it in his pocket.

"Now, call me now, so I have your phone number in my phone." She laughed as he flushed a little in embarrassment.

"Right," he pulled out his flip phone a plugged her number in before hitting dial.

Mia kept her face neutral but she was suspicious, what kind of tech guy still used a flip phone when Smart Phones were all the rage nowadays. Her phone buzzed as the call came through and she smiled, "Got it." She slid the phone into her pocket and he moved to say something else, when the door to the office opened again and the lady from before walked back in.

Gemma looked at the two in surprise, she wasn't expecting Juice to be hanging out in here, and narrowed her eyes at the Mohawked Man, "If you have time to flirt with customers you have time to go with the prospect and pick up some repos."

Juice flushed at Gemma's words and then realised what she'd said, "Awe Gem-"

"I don't think so Juice," she cut of his complaints, "Chibs says you've been in here for a while, go and do some work before I stick you on pick up duty all week."

Juice blanched at that, if there was one thing the guys all hated it was repo duty, some of those customers were crazy. He shot out of the office like lighting before turning back to Mia, "It was nice meeting you Mia, call me." He smiled and then hightailed it out of there before Gemma could make good on her promise.

* * *

"Man he's been in there forever," Jax said, "what do you think he's doing?"

"Probably getting shot down again and again," Tig shrugged, he'd wanted to talk to Gemma, but he wasn't going to do it with everyone else around, so he'd just sat back and hoped the sight of Juice getting shot down would cheer him up.

What none of the guys expected was Juice coming over to them with a grin like he'd just won the lottery, "Couldn't find your paperwork Chibs, but dude thanks for sending me in there, did you guys see that chick in the office?"

Chibs nodded, "Aye, Jacky Boy had his eye on that one, but she shot him down."

"She didn't shoot me down," Jax frowned, "Clearly she's into chicks."

Juice couldn't stop his smile from getting wider, he couldn't remember the last time a girl had picked him over Jax, "Really, if she's so into chicks then how come I got her number." He waved the card in Jax's face for a moment before taking off in the direction of the tow truck, he better get those repos done before Gemma threw a fit.

Jax scowled at his brothers who couldn't stop laughing, "You said that would make me feel better."

"Ah well, guess she likes her meat a little darker," Chibs shrugged before walking over to catch up with his young friend before Jax had a temper tantrum.

* * *

Gemma was sat with Tig in the office as he told her what he suspected about their last customer and the child with her, "What am I supposed to do Gem?" he asked, "Shit I don't even remember her."

Gemma shook her head, "You wouldn't, I saw her at the hospital earlier this week she was coming out of Ava Sutherlands' room, and according to one of the crow eater's that works at St Thomas, Ava Sutherland signed away the rights to her daughter, gave the little girl, Zoe, to the her sister, who no one has ever seen before. Tig, that kid is Zoe _Sutherland_ , tell me you weren't stupid enough to sleep with Ava Sutherland, she was barely eighteen when she had that kid." When Tig said nothing and gave her a sheepish look, Gemma threw her hands in the air, "Jesus Tig, of all the stupid shit you could have done! You knocked up the Junkie Princess!"

"Hey, we don't know for sure that it's my kid!"

"Yeah cus those blue eyes of hers and her wild hair could belong to anyone else in town!" she said sarcastically, "And now we don't know who this bitch is, she sure as shit ain't a Sutherland and no one at the hospital knows why she's got custody of the kid. At least no one's talking about it, I can't tell if it's because they don't know or if its because the Sutherlands have paid St Thomas to keep it quiet."

"Gem, what do I do?"

"Shit," Gemma sighed, "First thing's first, we get some info on this new gash, get Juice to do a background check on her, after that, I'll take her and the kid to the hospital, the fastest way to find out for sure whose baby that is, is a paternity test." She pulled the paperwork for Mia and found her address, "Right now, you need to stay away from them, if that kid is yours then we can't spook them, I'll head over to her place in a couple of days, introduce myself. She lives next door to Wendy, I'll use it as an excuse."

Tig nodded and got up, "Thanks Gem," he never thought that he'd have another kid, after things had gone so horribly wrong with Dawn and Fawn's mother, the girls never saw him unless they needed money, if this little girl was his then would he be allowed to see her? Then again, if she was his, why hadn't Ava told him? Even the crow eaters knew that he took care of his kids, so what the hell was she thinking?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but my own characters.

Bobby and Juice were sat in the back room of the clubhouse, the younger man had a bunch of paperwork out to show the club's Treasurer about the problem he'd found with the Club's earnings. "Look, with the increase in the order from the Irish, the garage doesn't make enough to hide the funds. Gemma can only buy so much jewellery from the pawn shops around town without looking suspicious. We need to invest in something else."  
  
Bobby looked at the figures Juice had produced, the kid was smart when it came to numbers but what he was showing him was just projections, _if_ the Irish came through with their larger deal, _if_ the garage couldn't bring in more custom, _if_ the owners of the pawn shops in town got suspicious, they would have a problem. But that was a lot of ifs, the owners of the pawn shops wouldn't dare say anything to the cops about Gemma's spending, TM went through peaks and troughs in business it all depended on how towards SAMCRO, and Clay wasn't about to go for an idea that came from Juice of all people. He was known as the Club's Intelligence Officer sure, but that wasn't an official officer position, not to mention he'd only been a patched member for a couple of years, he was still low on the totem pole as far as the President and Treasurer were concerned. "Look kid."

Juice looked back down at the papers in his hand and sighed, he knew exactly what Bobby was about to say, he may have been a brother, but that didn't mean he was trusted with Club funds.

"This is great work and all, but we don't know for sure that any of this is going to happen. Yes the Irish said that they're looking to move more product, but it's never been more than we can handle."

"Bobby, if we keep letting it build, we get less and less wiggle room."

"I get that, but right now, looking at the funds and where they're going, I think we still have plenty of time before we need to consider moving our money to another business." Bobby looked at the younger man before him and couldn't help but feel a sliver of guilt when he saw the kids face drop. Juice was always filled with such energy that it didn't seem right to see him down in the dumps, but the Club wouldn't coddle you, and Juice knew that. He'd done the right thing by bringing his idea to Bobby instead of to the table, and his information was definitely well put together, but in Bobby's opinion, it wasn't the right time to be thinking about moving funds anywhere. "Juice," Bobby said before he left the room, "I wasn't lying when I said that that was great work, just give it some time kid."

Juice waited until the older man left before he grabbed his paperwork and headed out of the clubhouse, he'd worked hard on the information he'd produced for the Treasurer but it couldn't be kept intact in case the cops decided to raid the clubhouse. He tossed most of the paperwork in an old metal trash can they kept on the lot, lighting the last one on fire and then throwing it in with the rest setting all the information alight. Sometimes it felt like the guys would never take him seriously.

Jax, Tig and Bobby watched as the youngest patch member destroyed the paperwork, with an uncharacteristic scowl on his face and then headed for his bike before he peeled out of the lot.  
"What's got Juicy Boy's panties in bunch?" Jax asked curiously, as the man that had sponsored Juice back when he was just a hang-around, he'd always felt a certain amount of responsibility for the Intelligence Officer, not that he'd let it show unless absolutely necessary.

"Kid just had some ideas about club funds that I shot down."

"Were they any good?" Tig asked as he lit a smoke, Juice had never been one to take on responsibilities that weren't his before, and he wondered what had gotten into the Intelligence Officer for a fleeting moment, but that that thought was chased away by the sight of a couple of the newest crow eaters headed inside the club.

"He made some valid points," Bobby replied.

"Maybe you should give his ideas some thought." Tig shrugged, before turning around to follow the crow eaters inside. "We all keep forgetting the kid's pretty smart."

Bobby and Jax gave each other an incredulous look before looking back at the retreating S.A.A, Tig was the most loyal brother out there, but he and Juice weren't particularly close, in fact they weren't even sure if Tig knew Juice's real name. So why say anything at all?

* * *

Juice parked his bike outside Lumpy's diner in the centre of Charming, it was the middle of the day and while he was tempted to go to his weed shop and pick up something to smoke, but he'd have to go back to the clubhouse to indulge and he didn't particularly want to see any of his brothers at the moment and be reminded of the fact that sometimes he felt like a Prospect with a Patch.

He sat inside and was perusing the menu when he felt a tug on his kutte, looking to his left he was reminded of the very incident that occurred two days ago in TM's office. It was the little girl, Zoe, again, staring up at him with big doe eyes. "Zoe!" a voice hissed and he saw Mia rush over to them from the entrance, "How many times do I have to tell you not to run off like that!" she was crouched down in front of the girl, with a firm grip on both her arms so Zoe would look at her, "You do it again, and I'm going to tie you to me, you can't just run off like that Sweetheart, you don't know anybody here."

"But it's Mr Juice, Auntie Mia!" the girl looked back up to the biker that she had become strangely fascinated with.

At her words Mia followed Zoe's gaze and flushed, it was twice now that this had happened, before she could say anything Juice smiled at her, once again momentarily taking her breath away, "We have got to stop meeting like this." He commented.

Mia returned his grin and stood back up, "Sorry! I don't know what's gotten into her, but I swear every time she heard a bike go past she was jumping around looking for you. You really made an impression on her."

Juice looked back down at Zoe and offered her a smile, "Well that's because I'm awesome, isn't that right Princess?" Zoe giggled and Juice looked up at Mia, "Care to join me? I haven't ordered yet."

"Oh, we don't want to bother you." As cute as she thought he was, Mia was still suspicious of his motives about her, especially since a few hours after meeting him, her phone had pinged, and a message popped up saying that someone had been looking into her background.

"Please Auntie Mia!" Zoe was staring up at her with watery blue eyes and Mia was quickly finding that it was a look she was unable to resist.

"Yeah, please Auntie Mia," Juice parroted and gave her the same doe eyes that Zoe was.

"Awe shit," she muttered, "Fine, if _Mr_ Juice insists."

Zoe gave a squeal of delight and crawled into the booth so she was sat opposite the biker, and Mia found that she was glad she'd given in to her Niece's plea. In the week that she'd known her Niece, she'd found that Zoe very rarely, if ever, acted like a child. She wouldn't talk much about what her home life was like but the night that Mia collected Zoe from the hospital, the little girl had walked into the hotel room and quietly crawled onto the sofa, her head bowed down, eyes staring at her shoes, waiting for Mia to give her instructions.

" _Mr_ Juice does insist." Juice said and motioned for her to sit next to Zoe. "So, what have you and the Princess been up to?" he asked as he handed his menu over to Mia.

"Shopping," Mia said, "lots and lots of shopping. Zoe needed a bunch of new clothes and after lunch, we're going to find things for her room."

"Really? Did you find anything cool?" Juice asked the girl who couldn't take her eyes off the ink on his forearms.

Looking up at him Zoe gave him a small smile, "Auntie Mia bought me a Motorcycle T-Shirt!"

"Oh?" Juice raised an eyebrow at Mia.

Mia playfully rolled her eyes and closed the menu in front of her, signalling for the waitress to come over so they could order, "It was in the boys section but she said it looked so cool."

"Well she's right, Motorcycles are the coolest."

Mia shrugged, "They're alright." They halted their conversation as the waitress came over with their drinks, a coke for Juice, apple juice for Zoe and water for Mia.

When she left Juice turned the focus back on their conversation, "Just alright?" he scoffed, "Have you ever been on the back of a bike before?"

"It's been… a while."

"Well come by the club some time, I'd be happy to take you for a ride." He smirked at her and she blushed in response.

"I'll just bet you would," she flirted back.

Zoe chose that moment to remind the two adults of her presence, "Can I go too?" Juice nearly snorted his coke out of his nose at her question.

"What?!" he coughed.

"Can I go on your bike?" she asked.

"Um…"

"Sorry Baby Girl, but you're too young to go on a bike."

"But-"

"Uh-uh Sweetheart, you are way too little to go on that bike." Zoe pouted at her aunt, turning her attention back to her drink, "Don't drink all your apple juice, you'll ruin your appetite."

Juice smiled as he watched the woman in front of him look after niece, "You're pretty good with her."

"Thanks, I'm still getting used to this whole being a mom thing."

Juice's eyes widened slightly at that, this was a good opening for him to try and get some information out of her, "Can I ask, what made you come to Charming?"

* * *

Juice frowned as he grabbed a wrench, he was working on a car at the garage, but his mind wasn't focused, it was three days after his lunch with Mia, he was no closer to knowing who she really was than he was when she first arrived at TM. After Mia had left the garage and the guys had gone back to their day jobs, Tig had asked him to look into her. He gave him some bullshit excuse about it being for Gemma because she didn't know who she was, but Juice wasn't stupid. He knew that it had to do with the fact that Mia's niece was the spitting image of Tig, clearly his brother had noticed and wanted to know more about her. So he'd smiled and nodded, it wasn't like he wasn't planning on doing a check on her anyway. But after spending four hours at his computer, he really didn't have much to tell Tig.

Mia was 24 years old and worked for a company called _Leverage Incorporated_ , she was named as the 'Head of Acquisitions' for the West Coast, but he had no real idea what she did or what the company did. That alone was pretty shady, so he delved into her past. At the age of six she and her three-year-old sister were taken from their mother by CPS. There wasn't really any information as to why, but they were given to their grandmother. Unfortunately, their grandmother had passed away a year later and they were put into the system. It looked like Mia had spent her early years and most of her teens bouncing between foster homes and Juvenile Detention Centres. But there were also long stints where there was no information on her, and he could only assume that those were times when she had run away from home. Her sister however, was a different story, he quickly found out that her sister was named Ava, and that tracked with the information Tig had given him, she hadn't even spent a full two months in the system before the Sutherlands adopted her. It looked like her mother had been quick to sign her rights away to her daughter, and Juice had to think it had something to do with the sizable amount of cash that had appeared in her bank account. So, it looked like she was telling the truth, Zoe was Mia's niece, but Juice couldn't find a record of how the two sister's kept in contact.

He also found that the information on Mia as an adult quickly dried up, sure there was the standard tax stuff, social security, etc. but there was nothing else, no information on friends, boyfriends, past jobs, known associates, there was nothing. She didn't have a Facebook page, or Twitter, she didn't even have a My Space account. It was like her whole adult life had been scrubbed clean, and you didn't have to be a genius to know that that was very suspicious.

When he'd handed all this information over to Tig the older man hadn't been happy, there wasn't anything for him to go on, nothing to suggest why she was in town, or why her niece was staying with her. Tig had wanted more information on her, and Juice, well Juice _needed_ to see her again, after their lunch together it was like she'd gotten under his skin, she'd taken his mind off the fact that he felt as though he still wasn't a trusted Brother of SAMCRO, at least not trusted like the rest of the guys were. They'd talked, she'd laughed, Zoe couldn't stop giggling and she'd said that she'd definitely call him once she had all her tech at home to set up. But it had been three days and she hadn't called, he had her number, but he didn't want to come off as desperate. She shot down Tig, she shot down Jax, but she flirted with him, she'd given _him_ her number, but she still hadn't called, and he was getting restless. Throwing down the wrench, he reached for his phone, Fuck looking desperate, it had been three days, he was calling her. Before he could her name popped up on the screen, he smiled and answered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing but my own characters.
> 
> Just warning you there's a little smut in this chapter.

Mia smiled at the delivery guy as he unloaded the last box out of his van, it had taken two days but finally all the electronics had arrived, now she just had to set it up. Looking around at the boxes that littered the floor in the hallway and thinking about the ones that were upstairs she sighed and pulled out her phone. She could set everything up herself, and when it came to hooking up the security system she'd wouldn't let anybody else touch it, but it would be nice to have a little help...especially if that help was attractive. Dialling the number she'd gotten at the beginning of the week, she put the phone up to her ear and waited... "Hi Juice?"

* * *

Half an hour later Juice pulled up to Mia's house on his bike, she'd asked him to come over under the pretence of installing her electronic equipment, and sure he was going to do most of the heavy lifting for her, why should she have to when she clearly had a handsome biker that was willing to do it for her? But the truth was, she wasn't able to get much information from Juice when they'd had their impromptu lunch the other day, not only was Zoe with her, but her job didn't really entail getting information from people by talking to them. She wasn't great at it. The message she'd received on her phone that had told her that someone was looking into her also traced the information gathering to the Sons of Anarchy's clubhouse that just so happened to be on the site of the garage, and after Juice's claim that he was the 'tech guy' for Teller-Morrow, she figured he was the one looking into her. He hadn't found anything of note, she had a friend that made sure that no one could find anything pertinent on her, but the fact that he'd managed to find information on her background at all told her that he was pretty good at his job. She just needed to know why he'd been looking into her in the first place. Mia had a hunch that it was because of Zoe and the guy that had scared her back in the garage's office, but she needed to know for certain. Just because she thought Juice was cute didn't mean that she could let it go, first and foremost she _had_ to keep Zoe and herself safe.

Juice got off his bike and walked up to the front door, knocking twice, he shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans while he waited for an answer. When Mia opened the door, she raised a brow at the way he was dressed, of course she didn't think he'd turn up in his coveralls, but she wasn't expecting him to look even better than he had the other day. He was wearing a pair of black jeans, biker boots, a tight white T-shirt and had his leather kutte on over it, Juice noticed her giving him a once over and smiled, she was checking him out, further proving that she wasn't into girls like Jax had claimed.

"Hey Juice," she smiled and moved to the side to let him in, "Thanks for coming over."

"No problem," he returned her smile and took in her home, there were boxes everywhere, proving that she was only just moving in and he noticed Zoe sat in the living room watching cartoons on the big screen.

Mia followed his eyes and cleared her throat, "I set up the TV, I didn't want to have to chase Zoe around while everything was being set up. I've uh, put the stuff in the rooms that they'll be going in to make it easier for us, that way I'll know if anything's missing."

Juice nodded, "Where do you want to start?"

"My office is upstairs, you can set up the computers and shit in there while I finish putting together the cabinets and stuff."

"Lead the way." He watched her hips as they swayed in front of him for a moment, before following up the stairs to where she needed him.

* * *

Three days, after Mia had taken Zoe from the hospital, Mark and Claire Sutherland were sat in their lawyer's office trying to understand what he was saying to them. As soon as they had been escorted out of their daughter's hospital room, they had called their lawyer and explained the situation to him, they had lost their granddaughter and they wanted her back. Now as they were sat across from a man that cost no less than $2000 an hour they couldn't help but get angrier, and angrier. "You're telling us that this woman that took our granddaughter is actually Ava's sister?" Mark asked incredulously. He had a vague recollection of the woman as a child, she was wild, angry, and confrontational, he had no doubt she was going down a path that would lead her to drugs, jail, teen pregnancy or all of the above. Instead, according to the background check their lawyer had done, she was smart, successful, well put together and disregarding the smallest brushes with the law when she was a child, she was a model citizen. "That's impossible." he continued to think about her, she should have turned out like Ava but instead she had the life that they wanted for their child.

"I'm sorry Mark, the firms P.I. looked deep into her history, there is nothing to suggest that she isn't who she says she is. When you said your daughter seemed to know her you weren't wrong. When Ava was pregnant with Zoe, this woman, Mia, showed up. According to the staff in your home, Mia spent 10 months with your daughter, making sure that she remained healthy and drug-free throughout her pregnancy. You two were away on business that year and it seems as though she took full advantage of that. Couple that, with her stellar past, and the fact that Ava was completely drug free at the time she signed away the rights to her daughter, there's nothing we can do at this moment in time except sue for custody. But then it will be up to a judge to decide what to do."

"I don't care what you have to do," Mark said coldly, "Find something on this woman that we can use. I do not want my granddaughter in the hands of a complete stranger when she should be with family!"

* * *

Juice wasn't lying when he said that he was the 'tech guy' for the MC. He's set up every piece of electronic equipment he got his hands on, wi-fi - done, TV in the bedroom - done, PlayStation (even though he complained the whole time he felt like he was cheating on his Xbox) - done, intercom system - done, the office - all done. And it had only hit dinner time, it was like once he started he just couldn't stop. He'd just laid down the last cable connecting the equipment in the kitchen when he heard a clatter from upstairs. He took the stairs two at time and found Mia in her room, putting together her bed frame, the mattress leaning up against one of her cupboards. "What are you doing?"

Looking up she bit her lip at the picture he made leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, muscles straining against his T-shirt, shaking herself from her thoughts she looked back down at the partially assembled bed. "I've been sleeping in Zoe's room since we got here, I'd just really like to be able to sleep in my own bed tonight you know?"

He sauntered into the room and sat down next to her, "Why didn't you say so? I'll take care of this."

"Well I did only ask for tech support; those guys don't usually do the heavy lifting." She pointed out with a grin.

"Nah," he returned her grin, "a pretty girl like you? You don't even need to ask for help."

Mia blushed and stood up, "Well in that case, I'll leave you to it, I was going to order take out for dinner, is there anything you wanted in particular?"

"You don't need to get me anything," he replied and she shook her head.

"Juice you've been here all day helping me, the least I can do is feed you."

"I'll eat anything," he shrugged, "get whatever you want."

Two hours later, Zoe was in bed, and Mia and Juice were on the back porch having a drink after dinner. They were leant against the railing looking out at the unkempt garden, "Thanks for helping me out today," she turned her back to the garden, so that she could look at him. For the whole day they'd been in close proximity with one another Juice had asked her questions that couldn't be answered from his background check on her. Mia had attempted to subtly steer the conversation towards the MC and its members, so she could figure out exactly who Alexander 'Tig' Trager was. But the whole time they were trying to get information out of the other, they were also shamelessly flirting with each other, that looked to be coming to a head now.

"It was no problem," he replied, "I was happy to help," he put the beer bottle on the railing and shifted slightly so he was facing her. "You know, for a minute I didn't think you'd call."

Mia took a swig from her bottle and looked at him, "You said you'd set up my tech, I couldn't very well call you when I didn't have any tech to set up."

Juice took the bottle from her hands and placed it next to his, and put a hand on her hip, pulling her closer to him, "I could think of a reason for you to call me," he murmured eyes dancing from her full lips to breasts and then back again.

"Really?" she pressed closer to him, her hips aligning with his, is chest against hers, "What did you have in mind?"

"Maybe something like this," he murmured, his lips met hers in a slow kiss that quickly became more frantic. Both of his hands found her hips and he lifted her up to sit her on the railing. He pressed closer to her, her legs coming up and wrapping around his waist, pulling him right against her.

"Juice," she gasped as he pressed against her.

Her hands trailed down his back to his arse and she squeezed, "Shit Mia," he groaned as he felt her grab him. He pushed up her shirt and threw it behind him, confirming his first thoughts when he saw her that afternoon, that she had gone braless that day. "Hello ladies," he grinned pulling back so that he could enjoy the sight of her breasts.

Mia's lips quirked up at his words and shook her head "You're such a goof," she said and pulled his mouth back towards hers. She moaned when she felt his hands on her, pushing his kutte off his shoulders and shoving his T-shirt up and over his head she pulled back to give him a once over and smiled, "Well hello."

Juice returned her smile, "I'm the goof," he snickered, he tugged her back towards him and smirked when he felt her undo his belt buckle. He lifted her slightly off the railing and shoved her shorts and underwear down before pulling a condom from his back pocket, she pulled it from his hands and tore it open with her teeth while he pushed his jeans and boxers down just enough to free his cock from its confines. Mia rolled the condom on and she gasped as his fingers found her pulsing core, he wanted to drag out their fun but was conscious of the fact that they were outside, and anyone could walk around the side of the house and see them. Making sure she was ready for him he thrust inside of her, Mia moaned into his mouth in an effort to keep quiet and gripped his shoulders as he pounded into her. It had been months since Mia had gotten any action and it didn't take long for Juice to get her to reach her peak, crying out, she buried her face in his neck as she came around him. "Shit!" Juice cried out as her orgasm took him by surprise and she clamped around him.

She pulled back slightly and looked at the biker in front of her, looking down between them she noticed that he was still hard as rock, her eyes met his and she gave him a flirty grin, "Bedroom?" she asked.

Juice yanked her back to him and lifted her off the railing, Mia's legs tightened around his waist as he carried her back towards the inside of the house, "Yes Ma-am."

* * *

Juice woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm on his phone going off, opening his eyes he was disorientated for a moment when he couldn't remember exactly where he was. When the events from the night before came flooding back to him, he realised that he was at Mia's place, rubbing a hand over his face to wake himself up, he sat up and looked around. He spotted his clothes neatly folded on the dresser, his kutte hanging up on the door he figured Mia must have been awake for a while, she'd left him a fresh towel and a toothbrush next to his clothes. Looking at his phone it was 09:15, he wouldn't have time to go back to his place to get ready for the morning without being late for his shift at TM, so he picked up the towel and headed straight for the bathroom.

Once he was showered and dressed he made his way downstairs, he could smell food being cooked in the kitchen and headed straight for it. It didn't cross his mind to cut and run like most of his brothers, he was known as the 'Sweet One' amongst the Croweaters, the one that would let the girls stay the night in his dorm and let them get ready in the morning before kicking them out, so he was at least going to say goodbye to Mia. The scent of coffee wafting through air may have also factored into his decision to stick around a little longer. Rounding the corner, he spotted Zoe sitting at the island tucking into a plate of pancakes for breakfast, and Mia next to the stove, making what looked like sandwiches. Licking his lips, he made his presence known to the two females, not wanting to startle the little girl, "Good morning ladies," he walked over to the empty seat next to Zoe and sat down.

The kid looked up at him with startled blue eyes, and he was reminded again of how much she looked like Tig, "Morning Princess," he smiled down at her, Zoe glanced over at Mia worriedly, at her Momma's house she wasn't allowed downstairs if one of her 'special friends' stayed the night, she definitely wasn't allowed to eat breakfast in the morning with her Momma. But Auntie Mia just smiled at her and kept cooking, and she liked Mr Juice, he was nice to her, he thought she was a Princess and rode a motorbike, he was so cool! So she smiled back at Mr Juice before digging back into her pancakes.

"You gotta stop calling her Princess," Mia said looking over at Juice, she wasn't sure if he would stick around that morning or sneak out first thing, but she'd made him some breakfast just in case, "It's gonna go to her head. I already had to buy her a Princess bed because of that."

Juice looked back down at the little girl who was sat quietly eating her food, "Nah look at her," he grinned digging into his own plate, "She's a freaking angel!"

Zoe giggled in response, he was much nicer than any of the 'special friends' at her Momma's house, "See Auntie Mia, I'm an Angel!"

Mia shook her head and looked over at the biker, "See what you did," she grabbed some sandwich fillers from out of the fridge before heading over to the coffee machine to pour herself a cup. "Coffee?" she asked and he nodded in response.

"Please," he told her how he took it and was rewarded with a steaming cup fresh from the machine, he looked over at the sandwiches she was putting together and he couldn't help but salivate, the pancakes were delicious and he told her so, but those sandwiches looked great. "Are you making me lunch?" he asked cheekily, and she shot him an unimpressed look.

"I'm not your girlfriend," she said sassily, "Princess Zoe and I will be out shopping all day, we gotta get toys to fill that toy chest in her room. We'll need lunch to keep us going."

Juice widened his eyes and gave her a pleading look, "But those sandwiches look delicious," he said, "and you know, I've got a busy day ahead of me, all the parts have finally come in so I'll be fixing your car..." he trailed off, his big brown eyes boring into hers.

"Shit," she muttered, rolling her eyes, she dropped a dollar in the jar on the table that was clearly labelled 'Swear Jar' and turned back to the food grabbing another two slices of bread to make another sandwich. Apparently Zoe's puppy dog eyes weren't her only weakness, Juice grinned at her back and held out his hand to Zoe for a high five, after a few seconds she clapped her hand against his and giggled when Mia turned around and gave them both a suspicious look.

When breakfast was finished Mia walked Juice to the front, the two walked towards his bike and she handed him the sandwich she made for him, "Here," he took the food from her and stowed it in the saddle bag on his bike, "Thanks for the help Juice."

He turned to face her and put both hands on her hips, pulling her towards him, "Just for the help?" he asked quietly brushing his lips over hers softly, "Because I can think of something else that I am very grateful for." She blushed at his words and put a hand on his chest as he moved in for another kiss, this time more passionate than the last. Moaning a little she parted her lips, giving his tongue access to her mouth, her hand moved from his chest to around his neck and pulled him in close. The two were so engrossed in each other they didn't hear the sound of a car pulling up, or notice when Gemma stood at the end of the driveway looking at them with barely concealed interest.

Schooling her features into her signature scowl, she cleared her throat and watched amused as the two sprang apart like they were on fire, Juice's eyes widened when he saw the Queen herself. "Gemma!" he remarked, subtly looking around to see if any of his brothers were with her, "What are you doing here?"

"Well I was just coming to see Wendy and realised that our newest customer was her neighbour, I thought I'd introduce myself and welcome her to our little town, although from the looks of it, you did enough welcoming for the both of us." She was quiet for a moment before rolling her eyes, "Well, aren't you going to introduce us?"

Raising an eyebrow at Gemma's almost polite demeanour he understood that she didn't want to scare Mia off, after all, she never called Wendy by her actual name, it was always 'the Junkie Bitch' or 'the Junkie Whore' or just 'that Stupid Gash'. Shaking his head he grasped Mia's hand and pulled her closer to him, "Gemma this is Mia Bassani, Mia, this is Gemma Teller-Morrow, she runs the garage, you met her when you brought your car in."

"I remember, nice to meet you Mrs Teller-Morrow," she said holding her hand out to shake, this woman gave off the vibe that she was not to be fucked with but Mia wasn't intimidated, in her line of work she'd met much scarier people than this Biker Bitch.

Gemma shook her hand, "Call me Gemma," she said, trying and failing to get a read on the girl standing before her. The Biker Matriarch looked over at Juice who was standing there awkwardly, unsure as to whether he should wait or leave. "Aren't you going to be late for work?" she demanded.

Juice practically jumped at her words, "Right, yeah," he turned back to Mia and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, squeezing her hips once before pulling away, "Call me if you uh need any more tech set up." He couldn't very well tell her to call him for another round of sex while Gemma was stood there, he hopped on his bike and backed it out of the driveway before speeding off, leaving Mia to deal with the Queen of the MC.

Mia rolled her eyes as he drove away, knowing exactly why he'd practically ran out of there, "Pussy," she muttered before turning back to Gemma, "Would you like to come in for some coffee?"

"I'd love to," Gemma pushed past her before she could say anything and headed inside.

Mia watched with wide eyes for a minute, surprised by the woman's audacity before chasing after her, she didn't want Zoe to run into a strange woman in the house without her there, especially with someone who looked far from friendly.

* * *

Juice had been working for two hours when he was called into the office by Gemma, she'd spent 45 minutes talking with Mia at her house and had come back with more questions than answers. He'd managed to avoid the Matriarch for a while but eventually she caught him while he was concentrating on a problem on one of the cars and ushered him inside the office, Tig followed the two and shut and locked the door behind him. Gemma must have told the older man that he'd spent the night at Mia's. "So talk," she commanded and Juice distinctly felt like he was back in middle school being scolded by his principal.

"Talk about what?" he tried to play clueless, it usually worked for him, if it wasn't about computers or mechanics then his brothers and by extension the Queen, thought he was an idiot.

"Don't be a dumbass," Tig scowled at the younger man and smacked the back of his head, "Gemma said you spent some time with the new girl in town, aka the Aunt to the girl who is probably my kid! What did you find out?"

"I don't- I didn't-" he cut himself off and sighed, he should have been expecting this, "What do you want to know?"

"Who is she?" Gemma asked.

"Why is she here?" Tig followed.

"What does she want?"

"Is she my kid?"

"Why does she have the girl?"

"Guys, GUYS!" Juice raised his voice to get them to stop, "Chill. I'll talk! She's Ava Sutherland's sister, like the background I did on her suggests, she's here to take care of Zoe. Apparently, she was on her way to Charming when she got the call that Ava had OD'd with her daughter in the house. So she called her lawyer and arranged all the paperwork for her to take Zoe, when Mia got to the hospital she...persuaded Ava to sign her rights over to Mia and the paperwork to make Mia Zoe's legal guardian has already been filed. She said all she wants is to take care of her niece, according to her, there's no name for the father on the birth certificate for Zoe, and when she asked Ava, she was told that she had no idea who the father is. As far as you go Tig, the kid looks like you, but she doesn't know for sure if you're the father."

"How can be sure she's telling the truth?" Tig asked, "You're sure she's not after money?"

"If she was after money then wouldn't she hit up the grandparents for some cash?" Gemma asked pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"She doesn't need cash," Juice insisted.

"And how would you know dumbass? You couldn't find anything on her finances."

"I was in her house man," Juice shook his head ignoring Tig, he was used to people not trusting him, " Fully refurbished, three bedrooms, four bathrooms, an office, two sitting rooms, a dining room, a kitchen and a conservatory. Not to mention I helped her set up her tech shit, with the amount she spent on that stuff, there's no way she's hurting for money."

"So what, her showing up here, with what looks like my kid, it's just a coincidence?"

"Look man, she said she doesn't know who Zoe's father is, if you think she's yours, and I think she is, maybe you should ask Ava."

Sighing Tig sat on the desk and looked at the other two occupants in the room, "I tried man, they've got a fucking bodyguard on the door to the house, he won't let anyone in."

"She's not there," Juice said, "I did a check this morning when I got in, figured you'd want to talk to her, she's in rehab, a real expensive place in LA, her parents must have flown her out there the second she was cleared to travel."

"LA? Shit man, how am I supposed to get in? You know you gotta be on a guest list or some shit like that." Tig said, feeling helpless for the first time in years.

Juice nodded, "It's a fancy place, but their security was pretty easy to crack, I put your name on her list of approved visitors, you just have to go up there with your ID...and maybe I dunno a suit. You probably should stand out there."

Tig looked at the Club's Intelligence Officer and for the first time actually saw why he was named as such. "You put me on the list? Without me asking?"

Gemma watched quietly as she saw Tig realise how much Juice was worth to the club and gave a small smile, she knew that despite being a fully patched member, Juice sometimes felt as though he didn't fit in.

Juice nodded, "Yeah, I figured the Club's got a charity run to SAMBERN next week, you could go then, L.A's only an hour away from the clubhouse." When the older man didn't say anything Juice stood, "If that's all, you mind if I get back to work?"

Tig stood to meet Juice before he left the office and pulled the younger man into a quick hug, "Thanks man," he whispered and left.

Juice shot Gemma a look, grateful that she hadn't said anything to him and left shortly after the S.A.A.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't own anything you recognise.

 

* * *

Mia sat Zoe up on the counter top of Charming Bakery, she'd just purchased the place from an elderly couple that were looking to sell it but wanted to keep the bakery running. "So, what do you think?" she asked the little girl. "You think my cake making skills are up to running a bakery?"

Zoe looked around at the bakery, she'd never been inside one before, and until her Auntie Mia had taken her away from her Momma she'd never had cake before. But Auntie Mia always made dessert for after dinner and she would make anything she wanted for her. "Can I have a cupcake?" she asked, and Mia laughed and nodded. Zoe gave her a wide grin, "Then I love it!" she squealed reaching for a cake covered in pink frosting.

Mia smiled and handed her one, watching as Zoe, in a rare moment, acted like a kid. Zoe deserved to have a happy life, one that shouldn't be marred by her mother's poor life choices. She looked around, thankful that the next step in her plan was completed, she didn't want anyone to look into the money she made by being the 'Head of Acquisitions' at _Leverage_ , so having the bakery made it look like she had legitimate earnings, and she could spend most of her time with Zoe, working with the girl to get her ready to face the outside world properly. She didn't miss the fact that whenever they passed a group of more than three people, the little girl would press herself against her legs if they were out walking somewhere, or bury her face in her shoulder if she was carrying her. Sighing at the reminder of her sister, she swung the girl up on her hip and headed back to the car, she was going to need to see Ava to find out just why she'd probably lied to her about Zoe's father, but didn't want her niece to see her mother. She'd need to find someone to look after Zoe while she saw her sister, she set the little girl in the car and got in just as she saw Gemma pull up in front of the convenience store next door. Starting the car, she peeled out of there before the Biker Queen had a chance to stop her. Their conversation the other day had been far from friendly and given that she still didn't know what to do about the potential father of her niece she didn't want to get into it with her. Pulling out an earbud she put it in and switched it on, "Link?" she asked and waited for a moment before a female voice answered.

"Yeah?"

"Need you to do some digging for me, I might have a problem down here in Charming."

"What's the name?" Link asked.

"Got three for you, Mark and Claire Sutherland, I get the feeling Zoe's grandparents are going to be more trouble than their worth."

"And the other?"

"Alexander 'Tig' Trager," sighing she shot a look at her niece in the mirror, the girl's bright blue eyes bored into her own, "I think he might be the F.A.T.H.E.R of my wayward N.I.E.C.E and I need to know if he's someone that deserves to have access to her if he is."

Though she couldn't see it, she knew Link was nodding on the other end, "No problem I'll have the info for you tomorrow morning."

"How much?"

"For you?" Link asked, pretending to think about it, "The friends and family discount."

"Great, I'll talk to you tomorrow - hey Link."

"Yeah?"

"I'm thinking of stopping by L.A next week, want to meet your god-daughter?"

Link let out a laugh at this, "You're damn right I do! I can't wait to rub this in Harp's face!"

"Yeah, yeah, calm your ass down, I don't need her calling me up and bitching me out, I can always take it back."

"Oh no, no take backs! You said it therefore it is so, I'm the god-mother!"

"Look I'll hit you up later, I've got something to do."

"Yeah? That something wouldn't happen to be a hot Puerto Rican biker would it?"

"..." Mia scowled as she pulled into her driveway, "How many times do I have to tell you to stay OUT of my security cameras!"

Link shrugged and snickered, leaning back in her chair as she watched the computer screen in front of her, the security footage from Mia's place. "Like that's gonna keep me out of your business...he's cute, so tell me, how was it?"

"You know what, just for that, you ain't getting anything till I get to L.A," she unlocked the front door and ushered her niece inside, "Call me tomorrow with that info, I gotta go."

Link had contacted Mia the next morning, and as promised there was a file on her computer with all the information that she could dig up on the elder Sutherlands and Tig, Zoe was busy playing with some of the new toys she'd gotten the previous day when Mia took the call.

"So I've sent you everything I got on them so far, the Grandparents as you can see are pulling out all the stops, and you can expect to be served with papers in the next 72 hours. It looks to me that they are going to try suing you for custody and that is something that they can do given that Zoe has history of a relationship with her Grandparents. But I am digging up some dirt on the Grandfather, at the moment it looks like he's been having an affair with some chick from the 'wrong side' of town and she may be pregnant. I'm digging into this side chick and I'll hit you up with anything I find."

"Okay," Mia nodded even though Link couldn't see her, "See if they would be amenable to a financial solution, if I can pay them off before we get to court then great."

"And if they're not?"

"Then I'll be using all those dirty little pictures you found for me to stop them in their tracks, they're not taking Zoe from me. What'd you get on the biker?"

"I gotta say, he's one creepy dude, the man's got an outstanding arrest warrant in Oregon for public indecency and assault in a barn of all things, he's done two stints in prison, both while affiliated with the Sons of Anarchy, both times in Tacoma, both for misdemeanour offences. He's got two daughters that I'm aware of, Dawn and Fawn."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I don't know what he and his baby mama were thinking, anyway, it looks like he was in prison when the girls were born, both times, but as far as I can tell, in terms of actually trying to be a father, he's not bad. He spent the first two years of Dawn's life with her mother, helping to raise her, but after he got sent to prison for a second time his wife left him and took the girls with her. When they were younger he tried to see them as much as he could, even though his ex made it extremely difficult for him. Now that they're older they don't really have any contact with him unless they need money. He's paying for their college tuition, but it looks like the girls couldn't really deal with the Outlaw lifestyle."

"So what do you think I should do?" Mia asked, absorbing the information as best she could.

"I don't know, it's not my decision to make, it looks like he tried to be a good father, but his lifestyle got in the way, and you and I are the last people to make judgments when it comes to living outside the law. Look, read his file, and think about it, if he's her father and he wants to get to know Zoe, then maybe you should at least talk to him."

"Yeah, okay, I'll uh- I'll think about it. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"I'll see you in a few days." Link hung up and Mia went to her office to boot up her computer, when she took on the responsibility of being a parent, she never thought she'd have to make a decision like this.

* * *

Juice woke with a start and saw Tig standing over him, it was rare that someone other than a Croweater came into his dorm. "Get dressed we're gonna be late."

"Dressed?" He rubbed his hand over his face as he sat up, "Late for what? I'm not working today."

"We're going to see your little girlfriend." Tig snapped and headed out of the room.

"My girlfr-oh shit," Juice grabbed his phone and hit Mia's name on his contact list, he didn't know her well, but he had a feeling she was not going to be happy about this.

"Hello?" Mia's voice came across the speaker on the phone.

"Hey Mia," he said, looking around the room for some clothes that didn't stink like weed and liquor.

"Hey Juice," he could hear the smile in her voice, which made him feel like shit knowing he was about to wipe it off, "to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"How would you feel about having some extra company for breakfast this morning?"

"Breakfast?" she asked a little startled, a one night stand had never called to ask for breakfast two days later before.

"Yeah, what are you making?"

"Miss Zoe and I are making waffles, she's having a right old time mixing the ingredients, you wanna come over?"

"If you'll have me," Juice smiled grabbing a towel and heading into the little bathroom in his dorm.

"I dunno Juice, you spend the night, eat my breakfast, have me make you lunch and then the next call I get is two days later asking for food. I'm starting to think you only want me for my cooking skills."

"Well I'll make you deal, I'll give you one orgasm for every plate of food I get from you."

Mia let out a laugh and moved away from Zoe, so she couldn't hear their conversation. "Are you seriously offering to trade sex for food?"

"Seems like a fair deal to me," he shrugged, leaning against the doorway to his bathroom.

"I'm not sure Juicy Boy, in case you hadn't heard I just bought Charming Bakery, you're talking to a professional now, how am I sure that what you're offering is worth it?"

"A Baker now huh? You got one of those white baking aprons to wear?"

"A white one? No, but I do have an X-men one."

Juice groaned at the thought, she was definitely the perfect woman.

"But you still haven't answered me Juice."

"Well three orgasms in one night seems like stand-up service to me, and I didn't hear any complaints from you. I'm very good at my job."

"Eh," Mia gave a little shrug not wanting to boost his ego, "you were all right."

"Just all right? Seemed like you thought I was more than just all right when you were begging me not to stop."

She playfully scoffed at him, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"Sounds like I'm going to have to come over and remind you."

"Sounds like," she agreed.

Tig banged on Juice's door and yelled at him to hurry up. Juice straightened up and frowned, this was going to piss Mia off, "Listen Mia," he cleared his throat, "I'm not actually calling for breakfast."

"Oh? And what is it you're calling for then?"

"Tig just woke me up, he said he's coming over to see you this morning, I don't think anything I say or do is going to stop him."

"Tell me you're fucking kidding me right now." Mia squared her shoulders and scowled.

"I'm sorry Babe," the pet name slipped out like he'd been calling her that forever, "He's coming whether you like it or not."

"Shit! You better be with him Juan Carlos," Juice winced, she was pissed, "You can watch Zoe while I have a chat with the potential baby daddy." With that she hung up, cursing the fact that she couldn't slam her mobile down to emphasise how pissed off she was.

* * *

Tig and Juice pulled up in front of Mia's place 20 minutes later, Juice had managed to convince the S.A.A to wait outside while he spoke to Mia. The woman was pissed enough as it was and her going off on Tig for not respecting her personal space was not a good idea. Tig sat on the swing on the front porch while Mia let Juice in, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, he didn't want to admit it to anyone, not even Gemma, but he was scared shitless. When Dawn and Fawn were born he was twenty years younger, now he was old enough to be Zoe's grandfather, and given his position in the club it would be a miracle if he lived long enough to see her reach her teenage years.

Ten minutes later Mia stepped out onto the front porch, she stood opposite Tig and leant on the front railing so she could face him, "So, since you're the one that insisted he come over this morning, I think you should start. What is it you're here for?"

He took another drag of his cigarette before looking her in the eyes, "She my kid?"

Mia scoffed, "I told Juice, I told Gemma, I don't know, there's no father on Zoe's birth certificate, how many more times do I have to say it before you guys believe me?"

"It's just a little suspect don't you think, you come into town and the first place you turn up after you get the kid, is the garage."

"I showed up at the garage because my car broke down, I figured Zoe's dad was just one of Ava's dealers, I certainly didn't think she's be sleeping with someone that's over twice her age."

"Hey!"

"Dude, Ava's 21, how old are you?"

Tig looked over to the side and muttered, "45."

"I'm sorry what was that?"

Rolling his eyes he looked back at her, "45."

"45! Seriously, you've been having sex for like three decades, have you never heard of a prophylactic?"

"She said she was on the pill." Tig protested, knowing that it was a stupid thing to say.

"Sure, sure, trust the drug addict, well I suppose she wasn't actually lying, I'm sure she was on a number of pills."

"Look I fucked up, I know that. But if the kid-"

"Zoe."

"If _Zoe_ is mine, I'm not going to bail on her."

"Yeah well 'if' is the word in question isn't it. I don't know for sure if she is."

"Come on look at her, who else is going to be the father?"

"I dunno, got any illegitimate sons hanging around?" she asked sarcastically.

Tig scowled at the woman, Mia was one mouthy bitch, and he wasn't used to taking shit from a woman that wasn't his baby mama, although given the circumstances one could argue that she technically was. "Look, let's just go to the hospital, a get a paternity test done. Hell, we can go right now!"

"Right now, I'm not letting Zoe anywhere near you. You saw how she reacted to you back in the office."

"She was just scared because I'm a new face," Tig shrugged, not wanting to believe that the little girl was as terrified of him as she looked that day in the garage.

"She's not scared of Juice." Mia shook her head.

"Yeah well the idiot acts like he's more kid than adult."

Mia snorted, "It's not that," she wasn't going to deny the fact that Juice was sometimes childish, she'd seen the way his eyes lit up when he'd seen her PlayStation and all the games that came with it. "You're not a new face, Zoe wouldn't tell me much, but she did say that Ava would threaten her with a beating if she ever let you see her. I mean she saw you from across the lot and burst into tears, you weren't anywhere near her, I let you see her now it's not going to be pretty."

"She's my kid!" Tig protested.

" _Potentially_ your kid, there's no definitive proof."

"Well then let's go get a fucking test done then!"

Mia sighed, they were just going to go round and round in circles unless she did something, "Okay look, you go to the hospital get them to take what they need, Zoe's got a follow up appointment at the hospital tomorrow, it's a welfare check or something , I'll get them to run the test then."

Tig scowled, he didn't like the fact that she wasn't letting him see Zoe, but he understood why, especially if she liable to react the same as she had at the garage, sitting back down he took a drag on his cigarette, "You really just came here for her?" he asked quietly.

Mia moved to sit on the other side of the bench swing, "She's my niece, Ava- I couldn't protect Ava, not when I was a kid, she was taken from me, and then by the time I was in a position to make contact with her she was already hooked on pills. I have a chance with Zoe, I'm not about to give that up for anything."

Tig nodded and looked at the younger woman thoughtfully, he believed her, she had said the same thing to Juice and to Gemma, but he had to hear her say the words before he could put any stock in them. She really wasn't here to fuck things up for him or SAMCRO, she honestly didn't know anything about Zoe's father before coming to the garage and that made Tig feel just a touch better. "So what happens when that test says I'm Zoe's father?"

Mia glanced over at him for a moment, "Honestly I don't know, I'm Zoe's legal guardian, nothing is going to change that now, and I don't know you from Adam. If you're Zoe's father, and you want to be in her life… the first thing I'm going to have to do is get her to stop freaking out whenever she sees you. From there, we'll just have to figure things out. Is that enough for you right now?"

"Doesn't sound like I got much of a choice now does it?"

Mia shook her head, "Not really, no."

Tig stood and headed towards his bike, "I'll head to St Thomas now, tell Juice we're done here."

Mia looked back through the window to her living room and couldn't help but smirk, "I'm pretty sure he's having a tea party at the minute so he might be a while."

Tig froze and looked back at her, "What?"

Mia nodded, "Oh yeah, he is tea partying it up right now."

"Pictures, please! Take plenty of pictures so I can put them up all around the clubhouse!" Tig cackled thinking about all the shit Juice was going to get from his brothers for this.

Mia shook her head in exasperation and hid her smile, "Maybe, now get the hell out of here, my breakfast is getting cold."

"You know a good hostess would offer her guest some breakfast," Tig could smell the waffles from the open kitchen window, and wouldn't admit it, but was pretty pissed that Juice got to eat breakfast inside.

"I did, Juice has got himself a plateful right there in the kitchen, good guests are invited over, they don't just decide to turn up. Now leave." She made a shooing motion with her hands and waited for him to leave.

Tig rolled his eyes and climbed onto his bike, backing it out of the driveway before driving off.

Mia walked back inside and leant against the doorjamb of the family room, Juice was sat on tiny yellow chair at a table that matched. There were stuffed toys on either side of him on their own chairs and Zoe was sat opposite him. She was pouring imaginary tea into a little pink teacup that Juice was holding, and Mia couldn't help herself. She whipped out her phone and snapped a picture of them, the flash alerting the two that she was in the room.

Juice looked up and frowned when he saw her putting her phone away, "Awe come on Mia, don't keep that." He stood and moved over to her.

"Sorry Juicy Boy, I think this one is definitely going in Zoe's photo album, what do you think Zoe? Would you like a picture of you and _Mr_ Juice in your album?" She dodged Juice's half-hearted attempt to grab her and swooped in, picking Zoe up from her chair and swung the girl onto her hip, heading in to the kitchen. "You know," she called from the other room, "Tig asked for a picture, I'm thinking I should send it to him."

Juice's eyes widened and rushed to follow her, "What? Don't give him anything! Please, please Mia. Mia? Mia!"

* * *

Tig drove back to the clubhouse after he stopped at St Thomas, the rest of his brothers didn't know what was going on with him and he didn't want to raise any eyebrows by being late to work when he was up before everyone at the clubhouse. He knew he would have to tell them eventually, the Sutherlands hated the Sons, in fact they would have been considered worse than the Hales but unlike the Hales, the Sutherlands didn't get involved with the running of the town, but if they were offended then they could cause problems for his Club. He would wait though, at least until the paternity test was done, so that there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to who was Zoe's father. He looked around for Juice, but when he couldn't spot the younger man in the clubhouse, he headed over to the Prospect who was cleaning the bar. "Prospect!" he barked, causing the kid to drop his cleaning tools and snap to attention. "Where's Juice?"

Half-Sack shook his head, "I dunno man, he hasn't been back since he left with you this morning."

Tig frowned and stormed past the bar and into his room, Juice was still at Mia's? It had been two hours since he left the house and Juice was still hanging out there? Tig had joked with Mia when she's said Juice was having a tea party with Zoe, but the truth was he was pissed, Zoe was his kid, he didn't want her to grow up calling some other man 'Dad' and if it was one of his brothers, that would just cut him even deeper. He needed to figure out how to get Zoe to be calm around him and he needed to do it fast, he couldn't have her bond with Juice and not him.

* * *

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything you recognise

It was Thursday afternoon and after spending a small fortune to get the paternity results fast tracked Mia finally had confirmation. It was official, Alexander 'Tig' Trager was Zoe's father, not that anyone really doubted it at this point, but it was good to have that information on paper. All that remained now was to tell the man himself, her car was finally fixed so she and Zoe made their way to Teller-Morrow. As they walked into the garage, Mia briefly thought that she would have to put Zoe in some form of Day Care, she couldn't drag the girl around with her forever, it wasn't healthy for either of them. Zoe needed to be able interact with other people, other children, she needed friends. And Mia, well Mia needed to be able to take a break from being a Mum, sure she loved Zoe from the moment she'd set eyes on the squirming bundle of dark hair and tan skin three years ago, but she was only 24, and she was in no way ready for kids, if it hadn't have been for Ava screwing the pooch when it came to raising her own kid, she wouldn't be there. Not to mention, the day before she had been served with papers with a court date on, Mark and Claire Sutherland were suing her for custody of their grandchild. The court date itself was six months away, (she was sure that was because they were still trying to dig up dirt on her), she needed to ensure that it looked like Zoe was in a stable environment, and if need be, she would use the fact that Tig was legally Zoe's father, and that it was kept from him by Ava, it wouldn't be too difficult to make it look like the grandparents had also kept their mouths shut about it. She would have to make sure that he was afforded all the rights of a father, and she would have to do it soon. At this point she was sure that the biker would be a better parent than Zoe's rich, arrogant grandparents, but she'd need to talk it over with him first.

Gemma watched as Mia walked in to the lot with Zoe tightly gripping her hand, she had decided she didn't like this woman. Juice had spent every night since Monday with Mia, and Gemma had watched as Tig alternated between loving Juice because he would give him any and all information on Zoe he had, and hating the younger man because he was allowed the luxury of spending time with Zoe in Mia's house. Little Miss Bassani had no idea, but she was tearing her family apart, and Gemma would be damned if she would let that happen. To top it off the little bitch wasn't even fazed when she'd stopped in for a little chat at her house unannounced and caught her and Juice practically dry-humping on the front lawn. She scowled as she saw Mia make her way over to Juice, the little girl toddling along with her, Gemma's angry frown became even more pronounced when she saw Juice stop what he was doing and welcome the little tramp with open arms and a kiss. Juice was obviously too stupid to comprehend the problems that the bitch was causing but Gemma wouldn't stand for it, not now, not ever. Opening the office door she marched over to the two adults with every intention to shut that shit down.

* * *

Mia took a quick glance around the garage and spotted Juice bent over the engine of a car, stopping for a moment to take in the delightful picture that he made while he was working, she smiled down at her niece and the two quickly made their way across the lot to the biker in question. "So uh, is this why it's taken so long to fix my car, you've been fixing some other girl's cage huh?"

Juice looked up at her voice and smiled, "Nah," he stood up and wiped his hands on a cloth he had hanging from his coveralls, before moving towards the two females. "It's some rich prick, he paid double to get it fixed by tonight."

"Ah, so you're saying, anyone with money will get your attention then?"

"What can I say?" The mechanic shrugged, "I'm all about the Benjamin's baby."

Mia scoffed in amusement, "You're ridiculous, you know that right?"

"And yet you keep coming back for more." He gripped Mia's hips and pulled her towards him, brushing his lips against hers in a quick kiss, "How you doing Babe?"

"You mean since this morning?"

Juice shrugged and pulled back, reaching out for Zoe he lifted her up and settled her on his hip, "Well it's been five hours, you could have gotten into all sorts of trouble in that time," he looked at Zoe, "Ain't that right Princess? Your Auntie Mia's a real trouble-maker, isn't she?"

Zoe giggled and tightened her arms around Juice's neck, "Shut up!" Mia exclaimed smacking his defined abs with the back of her hand.

"Oooh! Auntie Mia said a bad word, that'll cost you a dollar," Juice smirked.

"Yeah, well I don't have a dollar."

"You hear that Zoe, she doesn't have a dollar, how should she pay up?" Juice asked, and Zoe gave her aunt, what could only be described as, a scrutinising stare, before turning back to Juice and whispering in his ear. "Really? You think so?" He turned back to look at Mia, "The little Princess here said that you have some home-made cookies in your bag there." He nodded to the messenger bag that was hanging off her shoulder. "Well take those as payment."

Mia frowned as she took in the picture Zoe and Juice made, they both had their 'serious' faces on as they looked at her expectantly. Taking out the Tupperware from her bag she went to hand it over, before pulling it back to her chest, "I'm not sure I like this new dynamic between you two, I feel like I'm being ganged up on here."

Juice shrugged and held out a hand for the box, "I can't help it if the Princess thinks I'm awesome, now hand over the cookies." His fingers made a come-hither motion to encourage her to hand over the baked goods. Rolling her eyes, she handed the Tupperware over to him and he grinned, "Pleasure doing business with you." He tilted his head towards the clubhouse, "Tig's inside, if any of the boys give you any S.H.I.T just tell them I let you in." She'd told him, before he'd left her place that morning, that the results for the paternity test would be in today, and he could only assume that she'd come over to speak with the older man.

"Thanks," Mia nodded at him, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of her niece trying to steal the cookies out of Juice's hand.

Juice was about to say something else when he noticed the door to the office fly open and Gemma march out, heading in their direction, _'Oh shit!'_ he thought, eyes widening at the sight of the angry Queen. "You know what, you go talk to Tig, Zoe and I are going to go and check out my bike! Don't worry, we won't drive anywhere!" and before she could respond, Juice had spun on his heal and practically rushed towards the line up of Harleys in TM's lot.

Looking on in confusion Mia turned around to head into the Clubhouse when she caught sight of Gemma making her way over, "That man is such a pussy," she sighed to herself before plastering a smile on her face. She wasn't about to let Gemma Teller-Morrow intimidate her, even if she was on unfamiliar territory.

Gemma stopped in front of Mia, removing her sunglasses she gave the girl a hard stare, Juice had bolted out of the immediate area with Zoe, as soon as he saw her coming, it was a pussy move for sure, but it was smart, no one wanted to suffer the wrath of Gemma, ever. "Is there something you needed?" Gemma asked coldly.

Mia didn't let Gemma's attitude affect her, so she returned the glare with a serene smile, "I think the Prospect called me, said my car's ready to go."

"You want collections you come to the office, you don't distract my mechanics, they aren't babysitters." She looked over at Juice and Zoe and Mia followed her gaze, Juice had sat Zoe on his bike and was pointing things out to the little girl who was captivated by the shiny motorcycle.

"Doesn't look like Juice minds all that much, and last I checked, people were free to do as they pleased on their lunch break. I'll be by to collect my car in a minute, but I've got uh…another one of your mechanics to distract." She turned to walk away but Gemma's hand shot out and gripped her wrist.

"Outsiders aren't allowed in the clubhouse-"

"Without express invitation from a Patched member, I know," Mia finished pulling her arm from Gemma's hold, "It just so happens that Juice has given me permission, so I'll see you later."

Before she could walk away, Gemma stopped her again, this time with her words, "It won't last long you know, once the novelty of a new piece of tail wears off he'll be back to fucking Croweaters like he never stopped." Gemma smirked, she would make sure this gash couldn't sink her hooks into Juice any further.

Mia returned Gemma's smirk, looking the picture of calm and collected, whilst on the inside she was seething, "It's funny Gemma, I never asked him to stop fucking Croweaters, he just did, tell me, when's the last time he turned away free pussy huh? Like it or not, Juice likes me, otherwise he wouldn't have spent the last four nights with _me_ , in _my home_ , in _my bed_. You can't stop him from seeing me." She scoffed at Gemma and started to walk away, "Good luck trying though."

Gemma was fuming, no woman had ever had the nerve to talk to her like that, "One word from me and Juice will stop, all I have to do is ask!" she called back.

Declining to give Gemma a verbal response, Mia just gave her a little wave and walked into the clubhouse.

Juice was too far away from the two women to make out what they were saying to each other, even when they raised their voices but he did not like the look Gemma shot Mia. The younger woman was more controlled than Gemma, but he could tell she was pissed too. Sighing he turned back to Zoe before he caught Gemma's eye, he was going to get an earful when he got to Mia's tonight, he just knew it. It hadn't occurred to Juice, to just, not stop by that night, the two weren't in a relationship, at least they'd not said anything about going past what they were already doing, and as such, the biker wasn't obligated to calm her down that evening. He could just avoid the hassle and stay at the Clubhouse, but that particular thought, one that all of his brothers would have definitely had, didn't even cross his mind.

* * *

Mia looked around the Clubhouse, eyes searching for the wild dark hair that she had become so familiar with from her time with Zoe. Making her way to the bar she looked at the two bikers there, one was downing Tequila like it was water and he was dying of thirst, the other was stood next to him, and was practically a giant. They must be Piney and his son Opie, leaning against the bar, she made them aware of her presence, "Hello gentlemen."

The men in question turned to face her, while Opie only offered her nod of recognition, Piney gave her a smile and what she assumed was a flirtatious look. "Well hey there darling, how can we help you."

"I'm looking for Tig, he here?"

Piney frowned and Opie smirked, of course the beautiful woman wouldn't be here for his dad, "Awe Sweetheart what do you need him for when you have me?" He reached for her, but she stopped him.

"The last man who put a hand on me that I didn't like ended up with a knife in it. Are you sure that you want to continue what you're doing?" she motioned to his hand and Piney wisely pulled it back, causing Opie to hide a snicker behind a cough.

"That's what I thought," she looked at Opie, "Juice said Tig was in the Clubhouse, where is he?"

"You're Juice's girl? Why didn't you say so Sweetheart?"

Mia raised an eyebrow at Piney, "I'm not your Sweetheart, Old Man, and I'm not Juice's girl, where's Tig?"

Opie couldn't hold back his laugh at that and Piney shot him an angry look, "He's in his dorm just through there, it's the fourth door on the left." Opie said, and Mia thanked him and headed in that direction.

Piney couldn't stop scowling and Opie grinned, "Ah let it go Pop, she's too young for you anyway."

"I don't think I like her." Piney grumbled, tossing back another shot of Tequila.

* * *

Mia knocked on the door to Tig's dorm and when he answered she walked in, "Hey Tig, we need to talk."

Tig straightened when he saw her, he'd kicked a Croweater out of his room moments before and had just thrown on a pair of jeans so that he could grab some food before his shift in the garage. Seeing the look on her face he nodded and motioned for her to take a seat. "What's wrong? Where's Zoe?"

"Everything's fine, Zoe's outside with Juice, I uh- I got the results of the paternity test." She pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and handed it over to him, "I thought you'd want to see them for yourself."

He took the paper out of her hands and looked it over, sitting down on his bed his head dropped and he sighed, looking back up at her he spoke, "She's mine? She's my daughter." Suddenly he couldn't sit still, he stood and paced for a few moments before his hand shot out knocked a bunch of stuff from top of the set of drawers in the room, "SHE'S MINE!" He punched the wall in anger, "God damn it! How could she do this?!"

"Tig," Mia moved towards the older man to calm him down, "Tig!"

"THREE YEARS!" he yelled, "I missed out on three god damn years with my daughter! What the fuck was your sister thinking?" he hissed.

"LOOK AT ME!" Mia yelled, grabbing both of Tig's arms to stop him from lashing out again, "I didn't do this, you do not get angry at me, you want to be angry, you be angry at Ava. God knows I am, but I need you to calm down."

Tig looked at young woman, suddenly mindful of the fact that his brothers were in the clubhouse and they would be able to hear him if he raised his voice. "Right, sorry, thank you…for getting the test done, you didn't have to. And you didn't have to tell me the results, you could have kept them to yourself."

"Tig. I'm 24 years old, I know I look like I'm handling everything, but I was not prepared to have a kid! You have two, and from everything I know, and let's not pretend that we didn't have background checks done on each other, you've been trying to take care of them."

They sat down again and Tig sighed, "Their mother won't let me near them, she doesn't like my 'lifestyle', how do I know that you're not going to do the same thing?"

Mia looked at him for a moment, it was a valid question, that was for sure, Tig was an Outlaw, no doubt about it, _and_ he was the S.A.A for SAMCRO, you didn't get a patch like that unless you were willing to get seriously bloody for your Club. A regular person would have run in the opposite direction when she found out about Tig's arrests, a normal person would have told Tig that he wasn't the father and kept Zoe far away from anything to do with a club full of criminals, and that's what they were. Despite telling anyone who asked that they were just 'Harley Enthusiasts' she knew that the Club was into illegal shit, Link was very thorough when she did her background check. But Mia was far from normal, so she was going to show Tig a little trust and hoped that he didn't disappoint her. "Look, I'm going to tell you something about me that Juice didn't find when he looked in to me." Tig made a move to protest Juice's involvement but she held up a hand to stop him, "Don't insult me by lying to me, Juice is your tech guy, he looked into my background, I know that because I have safeguards set up that notify me the second somebody is looking. Those safeguards will also locate the person looking. You're a criminal Mr Trager, you and your Club run guns for the Irish, and as long as Zoe is happy, healthy and safe, it's not a problem for me."

"OK, OK, let's say, hypothetically that we do," Tig interrupted her, "how can I know that for sure?"

"Because I'm a criminal too," she replied and Tig looked surprised, "I'm an infiltration and extraction expert," at his confused look she clarified, "I'm a thief."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise, just my OCs

Sunday morning Tig walked into Chapel after the rest of the guys, it was time for Church before their run to San Bernardino on Monday, he, Jax, Juice and Chibs would leave Monday afternoon, and come back to Charming on Thursday. He knew he would have to tell the Club about Zoe and Ava and Mia, especially after Mia told him that the Sutherlands were suing her for custody of Zoe. He wasn't about to be kicked out of his kid's life and he knew that if the Sutherlands got her, then he'd never see her again. So he would do anything to help Mia keep custody of Zoe, and that would piss off the elder Sutherlands, there was a chance that this could blow back on the club, the boys deserved to know about what might happen. He'd let Clay, Jax and Bobby talk first, Club business would always come before anything else, so he waited until Clay asked if there was anything else that they needed to talk about before he ended Church.

"Yeah, uh-" he cleared his throat, "I got something that needs to be brought to the table." He shot a look at Juice, the younger man just nodded at him to continue, they had talked about it before Church and Juice had agreed that the Club needed to know.

"Well. Speak your piece brother."

"You guys remember the girl that was here on Thursday? Pretty, young, had the kid, drove the blue Camaro?"

"Aye the girl that you and Jax hit on in the office?" Chibs asked, "The one that preferred a little Rican lovin'?"

"Hey!" Juice exclaimed, "There's nothing _little_ about my lovin'!" he grinned and the men around him chuckled.

"Oh we remember her, don't we Jacky Boy? Guess she wasn't really into girls like you thought."

"Clearly she has taste issues," he grumbled, and the guys snickered.

"Yeah, her, look the kid she had with her is Zoe Sutherland, she's Ava Sutherland's kid."

"So?" Clay asked, "What's this about Tig?"

"Zoe's my kid." He said quickly, knowing he was going to get shit from the guys about this.

"What?!" Clay exclaimed, "You fucked Ava Sutherland? Charming's Junkie Princess?!"

"Are you serious man?" Jax asked, "She's like 20."

"21," Tig shot back quickly, "She was 18 when I fucked her."

"Why are you telling us this now? The kid's three." Opie asked.

"I didn't know, look Ava OD'd a couple of weeks ago with Zoe in the house and Juice's girl, Mia, got custody of Zoe. When I saw her in the office, Zoe I mean, I knew she was mine, Juice saw her, Gemma saw her we all thought it. Mia got a paternity test done to confirm it." Stopping for a moment he sighed before starting again. "I'm bringing this to the table because the Sutherlands are suing Mia for custody. I can't let that happen, if they get Zoe, I'll never get a chance to be her dad, but I get involved…"

"The Sutherlands might just decide to come after the Club," Bobby finished.

Tig looked at Clay from his spot at the table, he needed his president's blessing for this, without it, it was going to be difficult, if not impossible to be a part of Zoe's life.

Clay eyed his S.A.A for a moment and sighed, "Your dick's always getting us in to trouble. Do what you need to do brother, the Club is here for you."

* * *

Tuesday evening, Mia had arrived at Link's apartment in L.A, she had introduced Zoe to her new God-Mother and the two had hit it off right away. Knowing that they were coming, Link had outfitted her four bedroom apartment with any and all toys that a three year old girl like Zoe could dream of. Mia had two best friends and clearly Link was trying to get ahead of the other and be Zoe's favourite. While she wasn't used to children, Mia knew that Link was aware of how important Zoe was to her and felt that it was safe to leave the little girl with her a few hours, so she could go and visit her sister and the 'New Beginnings Rehabilitation Facility' the next day.

Wednesday afternoon Mia pulled into the lot of the rehab facility that Ava was in, walking inside she showed her I.D at the security checkpoint and they let her inside. She headed into the 'Guest Visitation' area where Ava would be brought out to meet her and stopped short when she saw a familiar head of wild dark hair. "Son of a-" she cut herself off and stormed over to the biker, sitting down in front of him, "What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I'm here to find out why she lied to me. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to find out why she lied to me! How did you even get in here, no wait, don't tell me, Juice hacked the 'Approved Guest List' didn't he?" at Tig's answering shrug she let out a little growl, "That man is so not getting laid when I get back to Charming!"

Tig snorted in amusement, "You can tell him that when we leave, he's waiting in a car in the parking lot."

"What?!" before she could get up and go find the biker, one of the staff from the facility escorted Ava out to meet them. When the younger woman saw them she froze, but the look on Mia's face stopped her from turning and running away. She sat down at the table with them quietly and waited for one of them to speak.

"Well Ava, bet you're wondering why I'm here," Tig said when the staff member moved away.

"Tig I-"

"You see a funny thing happened a couple of weeks ago, Mia here came into TM, her car broke down, and she brought with her this baby girl, dark hair, blue eyes, my cheekbones, is there anything you have to say to me?"

"I know she looks like it but she's not-"

"Cut the bullshit Ava," Mia cut her off, "I had a paternity test done, Tig's the father, so what the fuck were you thinking? Lying to me about who Zoe's father is!"

"You did what?" Ava asked suddenly panicked, "You can't make it official!"

"Like hell I can't!" Mia scoffed, "Tig's Zoe's father, he deserves to be a part of her life."

"No, no, no, please, no one can know that Tig's the father!"

"Why the fuck not?" Tig growled, he was so pissed at Ava he couldn't even see straight.

"You just can't, what good would you be for her anyway? You're a criminal." She scowled.

"And you're a god damned junkie!" Tig hissed, trying to keep his voice down, "My daughter-"

"She's not your daughter!" Ava protested, but Tig just continued.

" _ **My**_ daughter could have died that night you OD'd she could have gotten into any one of your drugs at the house and she would be dead. I may be a criminal, but at least I take care of my kids, make sure that they're taken care of!"

"She's not _your_ daughter," Ava insisted.

"She is," Mia cut in, "Tig is her father, and I'm getting it declared legally."

"No you can't!"

"You see, you keep saying that but you're not telling me why I can't."

"Mom and Dad," she started, "when they found out-"

"You mean they already know?!" Tig exclaimed.

"Look they said if I put Zoe down as your daughter then I'd lose everything! My house, my car, my trust fund! They didn't want anyone to know that their granddaughter was related to a member of SAMCRO. Please don't declare him!" she was looking at her sister now, hoping that she would take her side, they were blood after all.

Tig was about to lose his shit, Mia could tell so she spoke before he started yelling and got them kicked out of the facility, "You actually want me to deny Tig his rights as a father just so that you can keep being taken care of by Mommy and Daddy?" Mia asked incredulously.

"You're my sister," Ava insisted, "You should want to help me."

"Oh now I'm your sister, I thought I was just a bitch that had an easy life and always got what she wanted." Shaking her head, she looked at the man across the table who was positively fuming, "I'm getting Tig declared as Zoe's father by the court, they'll put his name on the birth certificate and I'm going to make sure that that he gets to spend as much time with Zoe as he can."

"Don't do this!" Ava cried, "They'll take away everything, you owe me that!"

"I owe- I owe you for that?! How the fuck could I possibly owe you, I told you before and I'll tell you again, you were the one with the perfect life, the perfect family, I haven't taken anything from you to owe you."

"You took Zoe!"

"You gave her up."

"Because you made me!"

Mia shook her head, "No Ava, you gave her up long before that, I spent ten months with you when you found out you were pregnant, I kept you clean and sober so that that little girl could have a good life. Instead the second you could, you went right back to drinking, and partying, and taking drugs. You never wanted Zoe, so don't pretend for a second that you weren't ecstatic at the thought of not having to be her mom!"

"Zoe's mine! She's my kid, it's not my fault I'm sick! Yeah you stayed with me for ten months and then what? You just up and left, what was I supposed to do?"

"Stay clean! I got you through the hard part, I stayed with you through your withdrawal, made sure you stayed healthy, all you had to do was stay off of drugs, but instead you just went straight back to getting high!" Mia took a deep breath before continuing. "Now there's only one thing that left that I want to know and you're going to tell me, or I am going to make your life very difficult. What did you say to Zoe to make her so afraid of Tig? She saw him from across the parking lot and burst into tears. What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Cut the bullshit," Tig said leaning forward, "She couldn't even look at me without cowering in fear, it's taken Mia days to get me in the same room with her without her freaking out. What. Did. You. Do?!"

"Keep in mind that if you don't tell us what we want to know, I will send all those little pictures of you to the D.A. and you will go to jail."

Ava scowled, "You said that if I signed Zoe over to you, you wouldn't use that!"

Mia shrugged and leant back into her chair, "That's the problem with blackmailers, you'll never know when they'll be… satisfied."

Tig smirked and settled back into his chair also, "So talk," he said.

Ava glared at them both, she was being backed into a corner and she couldn't be more pissed off at her sister, but she wanted to go home after her little stint in rehab, not prison. "Fine. Look after Mom and Dad threatened to take away my trust fund, I couldn't let Tig find out about her. So, I kept her in her room." At the look that Mia was giving her she quickly continued, "After the first two times Tig came back to mine, she wouldn't stay there, he almost saw her once, so I- I…" she sighed.

"Did you hit her?" Mia asked appalled, recalling her time in the system and some of her foster parents, "Did. You. Lay. Hands. On. My. Niece?" Her blood was boiling, and her vision was going red.

"Only once! And then I just, the door to her room didn't have a lock on it, but the closet did, so I kept her locked in there, it never would have happened if she'd just listened to me!"

"Should hav- should have just listened to you?! OK, OK." She nodded, rubbing a hand over her face to conceal the rage she felt before moving to jump across the table and attack her sister.

Tig stood and grabbed her around her waist before she could make contact, he saw some of the staff moving towards them "OK, it's time to go, let's go before they call the cops," he murmured in her ear.

The two of them rushed outside and Tig tried to calm her down in the parking lot, it was strange, he was never the one with the cool head, he was furious at Ava too, but he recognised the fact that Mia needed help right now. He made eye contact with Juice in their borrowed cage and motioned for him to join them. Juice was out of the car in an instant, looking worried, he hurried over to the two and pulled Mia to him, "Hey, hey, what's going on Babe?" He asked quietly, "You're shaking."

Mia clutched at his hoodie, burying her face in his chest, "I didn't think that I could get angrier at her, I can't- how could she-" she couldn't even string a sentence together she was that mad. "I need to see Zoe, right now, I need to see her."

"OK," Juice nodded and tossed his car keys at Tig, "Come on Baby, we'll go see Zoe, I'll drive." He walked her to her car and took the keys out of her purse. Putting her in the passenger side he moved around to the driver's side. "You good to follow?" He asked Tig and the older man nodded, heading over to their car.

* * *

Mia was stood in the doorway of one of the guest bedrooms in Link's apartment, Zoe was playing on the floor with some of her toys, and Tig was sat with her. Mia and Tig had been working with her every day to try and get her used to the older man, her niece was still wary of him, but instead of bursting into tears, or running away from him, she would sit quietly and play while he was in the room. She still wouldn't talk to him, or interact with him in any way, but it was a start. Juice came up behind her and handed her a beer, his arm came around her waist and pulled her back to his chest. When they got to the apartment, Mia hadn't waited for him and headed straight upstairs to see her niece, she needed to hold her, to know she was happy and safe. Tig had joined them and given his brother a quick run down of what had happened, so Juice was making sure that Mia was okay, holding her to him, she was fully relaxed against him. She tilted her head, so her lips grazed his jaw in a light kiss, "Thank you," she murmured, not wanting to disturb the little girl that was slowly starting to warm up to her father, "You didn't have to come."

Juice's grip tightened on her waist, it hadn't taken him long to realise that Mia was different from any woman he'd been with before. She didn't care about his Patch, she didn't treat him like he was an idiot or call him a moron, and to top it off, she'd chosen him over the Prince of Charming himself. Jax was his brother and he loved him, but next to him, Juice had always been in second place, but Mia didn't think so. He looked into her eyes and brought up a hand to caress her cheek, he wouldn't say anything to her yet, but he believed that whatever they were doing, went way beyond just sex, he wanted a relationship with the woman, but he didn't want to scare her off by getting too serious too soon. "Yes, I did."

* * *

Tig was on the couch in the sitting room of the apartment with Juice, Mia, and Link (the guys had been introduced to her when they'd arrived), it was the evening and Zoe was asleep so the adults could finally talk. "So what are we going to do about this custody case?" Tig asked.

"Link's been looking into the grandparents."

Link nodded, and grabbed the keyboard on the coffee table, using it to pull up the info she'd found on the TV screen. "Meet Candace Miller, aka Candi Kane, Candi with an 'I' and Kane with a 'K', the prettiest stripper at the Jelly Bean. She and Mark Sutherland have been banging behind dear old Mama Sutherland's back for months now, _and_ the results are in from the hospital, Candi Kane is pregnant."

"I'm going to see if I can pay them off, if not, Link will reveal all to Mrs Sutherland." Mia said.

"Well that takes care of the husband, but his wife might still want custody," Juice said.

Mia nodded, "Then I'm planning on using what Ava told us today against her, the fact that the Sutherlands knew who Zoe's father was and still allowed their granddaughter to remain with a known junkie should tank their case."

"But how are you gonna prove that they knew about Tig?" Juice asked.

"That's easy. Link show 'em." She motioned to the screen and Link pulled up video footage of the rehab.

"Wait you recorded this?" Tig asked, "How?"

Link pulled out a tiny piece of tech and stuck it to one of the buttons on her blouse, "Watch," she typed something into the keyboard and video footage of inside the apartment popped up on screen.

Tig looked at the screen before looking back at Link, "Wait, is that a camera?!"

"Seriously?" Juice asked, leaning forward, seeing himself pop up on the video.

"Standard issue button cam, it's easily goes undetected if searched, unless you know that it's there, you won't find it."

Juice reached out for it and Link handed it to him so he could take a better look at it, "I want one."

Mia shook her head and turned her attention back to the matter at hand, "Link will take out the parts of the video that make me look like a criminal and then if I need it, I'll use it against the Sutherlands."

"So we've got a plan, what are you going to do first?" Tig asked.

"First things first, we've got to get you declared as Zoe's father."

* * *

Mia was curled up with Juice in bed in the apartment, she was in nothing but a pair of panties and his SAMCRO t-shirt while he was just in his boxers. Her head was resting on his chest and an arm was thrown over his torso, while his hand brushed through her dark hair. "I never should have left Zoe with her," she murmured.

Juice's fingers trailed down her bare back, drawing imaginary objects, causing her to sigh in pleasure, "You didn't know what would happen."

"I should have though, she's an addict, she'll always be an addict and I should have known better."

"Hey," he cupped her cheek and tilted her face up so her eyes met his, "You got her through the worst part. You took care of her through her withdrawal, you made sure she stayed clean, you were with her when she gave birth, you made sure she wasn't depressed. You did everything for her okay, you couldn't have known what was going to happen."

"But I should have, I should have pressed harder to find out who Zoe's father was, but I didn't, I was selfish."

Juice sat up and pulled her up with him, "Listen to me," he said, "you weren't selfish, you were 21, not to mention that you spent your entire life in the system, you didn't exactly have the best role models in life. But Ava, Ava had everything, loving parents, a safe home, a life that every kid wants."

Mia shook her head, "I should have known, I mean we had a junkie mom, she never took care of us, hell the state took us away from her! I should have expected it!"

"Your mom never got clean," Juice insisted, "She never had anyone to help take of her like you did Ava, you wanted to believe the best in your sister, and that's not your fault. It was Ava's parent's job to take care of her and Zoe not yours, but you did. You're the best mother Zoe could ask for, you're here to take care of her now, you can't dwell on the past, you just make sure that you can provide Zoe with the best possible future you can."

Mia pressed herself into Juice's side and sighed, "How can I be so sure that I'm doing the right thing? Before Zoe I'd never even been around kids before, and I'm not ready to be a mom."

"But you are one now," Juice shrugged, adjusting them so she was sitting on his lap under the covers, "Zoe's happy, healthy, and she couldn't want for anything. You're doing a great job, and her grandparents won't take her from you. I- we'll make sure of it."

Mia smiled and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and turning so she could straddle him, "How do you always know what to say?"

Juice shrugged and smiled, according to his brothers he never knew what to say, "I guess it's just a talent."

"I can think of something else that you're talented at."

"Well, I am _really_ good at distracting people," he pushed the t-shirt she was wearing up and over her head.

"Maybe you should show me then." Pressing her lips against his, Juice gripped her hips and pulled her closer to him.

"Maybe I should." He murmured.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, just my O.Cs

"Damn it!" Link exclaimed, slamming the lid down on her laptop.

Tig and Juice looked over from their position at the breakfast bar, but Mia just ignored her, she was used to outbursts like that from her hacker friend. "What's wrong?" Juice asked, digging into the eggs and bacon Mia had made.

"It's nothing," she shrugged, her eyes sliding over to Mia, waiting for her friend to acknowledge her. When Mia didn't say anything, she moved over to the kitchen and sat at the table, she sighed loudly and waited for a moment. When Mia still didn't do anything, she sighed again, and shuffled in her seat loudly.

Rolling her eyes, Mia looked over at Link from where she was stood in front of the cooker, "What's wrong?"

"I'm just having trouble finishing this job I'm on, that's all."

Moving to sit down next to Juice with her own plate of food, "And why is that?" Tig and Juice watched them with interest.

"I need some information for a client, that's only kept on hard copy, in a bank safety deposit box…"

"And you would like me to go and get it, right, for free?"

"Well you are staying here, for free."

Mia raised an eyebrow, "One night in this apartment costs like $116 a day."

Juice looked over at Tig in surprise, 'Seriously?' he mouthed and Tig shrugged.

"One hour of my work costs $2000, there's no comparison."

Tig returned Juice's look with one of shock, 'Really?' he mouthed back, Juice looked equally astonished and then thoughtful as he calculated how much one week of her time would cost.

"Please, I need to get this stuff to my client tomorrow and you're much better at the physical stealing than me!"

Mia smirked and nodded, "Well I do love it when you admit I'm better than you at something, fine, show me the info." The two girls stood up and moved over Link's office.

Juice leant over his breakfast towards Tig, "She charges $240,000 for five days work!"

"$240,000 seriously?" The men both stared at the doorway to the office in amazement, "Why the hell is she working at a bakery?"

Juice shot an unimpressed look at his brother, "Why do we work as mechanics? She needs legitimate earnings."

"Huh," Tig leant back, "That's a lot of money."

"Yeah, um, we should probably keep that between us." Juice said hesitantly.

"What?"

"Well I mean, we don't know how much interaction Mia wants to have with the rest of the Club, or how much she wants Zoe to have. As long as she's not a threat to the Club, or a 'Friend' to it, maybe we should keep how much she earns quiet."

"Juice-"

"Look she's my girl, and I don't want the Club hitting her up for a loan any time we have financial issues." He gave Tig a hard look and the older man held up his hands in surrender.

Tig had never seen Juice so serious about a girl before, hell the closest he'd come to a girlfriend in the past four years was a favourite Croweater he'd sleep with for a few weeks before he got bored. "OK, OK, I won't say anything." But he'd called her his girl, and said it to a brother no less, Mia meant something to him, "She know she's your girl?" he asked.

"She will."

* * *

"Just so we're clear, was it completely necessary to dress as a preacher?" Tig asked fiddling with the white collar around his neck.

"Hey, you wanted to see exactly what I do," Mia replied, adjusting her nun's habit. The two were stood outside the First National Bank in downtown L.A while Link was waiting in the van two blocks down from them.

"Remind me again, why are you guys dressed like that?" Link asked over their coms.

"A…friend did this once, said it really put those bank officials at ease, figured I'd try it." Mia replied before walking into the bank, closely followed by Tig.

The two of them sat down with one of the representative's at the bank, and after a quick check to verify they had the funds to pay for a security deposit box, they were taken downstairs into the first level of the bank vault to 'put away their property'. When the official left them alone Tig looked around at the room full of boxes. "How do you plan on getting into the box you need? I don't know much about these boxes but I'm pretty sure that they only open if both keys are used at the same time."

Shooting him a look, Mia opened the bible she was holding to show an impression of a key inside, she took out a small bottle of liquid and squirted it inside the impression before snapping the book shut and shaking it. At Tig's questioning look she smiled, "This is a little liquid polymer I designed, add kinetic energy and it takes seven seconds to set." She opened the bible again and pulled out a newly formed key, "Instant key, here." She handed it to him and looked around, "With this key I could open up every box in here. Could you imagine what people have stashed down here? Gold, jewellery, barer bonds, rare comic books!"

"Okay, calm down," Link said over the coms, "Focus, we're here to take one thing, not rob the whole place. It's box number 352. Now hurry up, the bank official will be back in five minutes."

Mia pouted, her excitement fizzling out, "Fine, let's get this over with." She pulled out her lock picks and walked over to the box, Tig put the key in one lock while she worked the other one with the lock picks and the door popped open, "Got exactly what we need, with four minutes and twenty seconds to spare." She placed the documents she'd stolen in the concealed pocket in her outfit.

"So it's time to go?" Tig shuffled from one foot to another, he was used to committing crimes but never in a place that had panic buttons and cameras and direct lines to one of the biggest police departments in the country.

"What's the rush?" Mia asked and moved over to the other side of the room, Link knew she wouldn't be able to go into a room full of safe deposit boxes without taking a little something for herself, so she had given Mia a list of box numbers with potential valuables in belonging to people with less than stellar backgrounds. "We still have four minutes."

* * *

Gemma was sat at the dining room table in her home feeding her bird, she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, so she was surprised when Clay came in and sat down beside her. "What's wrong Gemma?" he asked. His wife had been acting funny for the past couple of days and now that the boys were on their run he finally had the chance to ask her about it. "Don't say nothing, because you've been acting strange ever since Tig told us about his new daughter." When Gemma stiffened he sighed, "Is that the problem, Tig's kid?"

"No, yes…no it's not the kid that's problem, it's her guardian."

"Her Aunt?"

"Yes! That Little Tramp is causing nothing but problems!"

"Gemma-"

"It's true! Do you know that Juice spent the past six nights at her house? He's been spending time with Tig's daughter when Tig hasn't even been allowed in the house!"

"Gemma Tig talked to us about it, the kid's terrified of him, but he and Mia have been working together to change that."

Gemma scoffed, "Yeah right, she wants Juice to be the kid's father, there's no doubt about that."

"Gemma, Tig's been seeing Zoe since before he told us about her." Clay replied.

"That's not my only problem, that gash has no respect for anyone! She walks around here acting like she's better than everyone, and Juice follows her around like a lost puppy!"

"So that's the problem," Clay chuckled, "She won't take any shit from you."

"That's not-"

"Look Gemma, maybe she's exactly what Juice needs, a strong Old Lady that won't bow to anyone." Clay smirked, he loved his wife but it was nice to see her pissed at someone else instead of him.

"She is _never_ going to be Juice's Old Lady!"

"I dunno Gem, the kid's spent six night's in a row with her, when was the last time that happened?"

"She will _never_ be an Old Lady!" Gemma pushed away from the table and stormed out of the room.

Clay grinned as he watched her leave, lighting a cigar and taking a long drag, "Juice is so screwed."

* * *

Juice just put on a Disney movie for Zoe to watch when the other three walked into the apartment. He did a double take a Tig and Mia's outfits and pulled out his phone to take a picture, "Did you guys have fun?" he asked, genuinely curious about what his woman (he still hadn't told her that) got up to when she was stealing stuff.

Taking off her nun's outfit she sat down next to him, Zoe was completely engrossed in Aladdin, so she was ignoring everyone in the room, "As a matter of fact we did."

Juice watched her with interest as she pulled something out of the secret pocket in the outfit, "Did you pick up anything interesting?" Mia smiled and handed over one of the items she taken from a safe deposit box for Juice to look at, "Wait a second, is this…"

"Amazing Fantasy issue 15 (1962), introducing Spiderman, worth about $405,000? Yep." She plucked the comic book out of his hands and walked out of the room.

Juice watched her with wide eyes for a moment before rushing out of the room, following her, "Where are you going with it?!"

"I stole it, it's mine," she shrugged, "Possession is nine tenths and all that."

"But, but, but Spiderman isn't even one of your favourites!" he exclaimed and she giggled at his expression, "Let me have it! I love Spiderman!"

"Awe Juicy, there's no way you're getting your hands on these rare comic books," she called back as she headed into her room.

"Wait _comics_? You got more than one?! Oh my God! Mia!" he chased after her, trying to come up with some sort of idea to convince her to hand over the rarest comic book he'd ever laid his eyes on.

* * *

Jax had convinced Clay to let the guys on the run to stay with SAMBERN so that Tig could spend some time with his daughter. So it was Saturday morning before the boys were headed back to Charming, this time however they were coming back escorting Mia's blue Camaro. He'd met the kid, Zoe, now and could see why Tig was so desperate to keep her away from her grandparents. When Mia had walked into the SAMBERN Clubhouse with Zoe, the girl has shied away from all his brothers there, she had Mia's hand in a death grip until she saw Juice and ran over to the Intelligence Officer, who had smiled at the little girl, picked her up and let her bury her face into his neck. He'd never seen Juice act like this before, instead of goofing off, and acting like the loveable idiot that they all knew and loved. He was acting like a responsible, he couldn't believe he was thinking this, father. His mum had asked him to keep an eye on Juice while they were gone, at first he thought it was weird that she had wanted to know whether Juice partook in the free pussy at the Clubhouse. But seeing the way he'd reacted when he'd laid eyes on Mia and Zoe, he'd understood, his mum was worried about Juice. It looked like he was getting really serious with Mia, really fast, and she didn't want him to get hurt. He also hadn't missed the look on Tig's face when he saw that his little girl had run to another man for comfort. He decided he would talk to Juice when they got back to Charming, he didn't want to upset the younger man, but he also didn't want Tig to miss out on anything just because Juice was with Mia now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, I'm just borrowing these characters for my own amusement.
> 
> Thanks so much guys for all the comments and Kudos. I really appreciate it.

One week after Mia and Tig's visit with Ava, Mark and Claire Sutherland finally decided to go to Los Angeles and see their daughter for the first time since they'd sent her to rehab. They were planning on waiting at least a month before seeing Ava, but had received information from one of the staff at the rehab centre that Ava had had visitors. Given that the only people who were supposed to be allowed to see her were her parents, Mr Sutherland had asked to see the 'Approved Visitors List'. But he'd found nothing amiss, there were no extra names on the list and the guest book that had to be signed upon entry and exit of the facility was missing a page from the day of the 'supposed' visit. When he'd then asked to view the surveillance tapes, the Head of Security had informed them that there had been an 'electrical surge' that had wiped the tapes for that day. It was at that point the Sutherlands had decided that they needed to see their daughter and some of the staff in person to find out exactly who had been visiting.

The longer they sat in the Visitor's Centre, waiting for their daughter, Mrs Sutherland grew more and more nervous. Ever since the day that Ava had been rushed to hospital because of the overdose, Mrs Sutherland had felt a pit in her stomach, one that, no matter what her husband did, no matter how many lawyers and private investigators they saw, would not stop growing. She had a terrible feeling that she already knew who the woman was, she believed it to be her daughter's sister, but the man was what worried her. Their private investigator had informed them that their granddaughter's guardian had had visits from the two members from the local 'biker gang' the Sons of Anarchy. She wasn't worried about the one with the ridiculous head tattoos; Ava had never been intimate with him. But the one with the wild dark hair, and startling blue eyes, the one who Zoe looked just like, he was a problem, and Mrs Sutherland had this horrible sinking feeling that Ava had told her sister exactly who Zoe's father was. Her husband didn't want to believe it; he didn't want to think that after everything their daughter had already done, she would be stupid enough to reveal who the father of their granddaughter was. But Claire Sutherland knew, deep in her heart, she knew that her daughter had given in to whatever pressure her sister had put on her, just like when she signed away her rights as a parent.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Mia, Zoe, Tig and Juice had been in the City of Angels, and things hadn't changed all that much between the four of them. Zoe had graduated from complete silence when Tig was anywhere near her to one word answers if completely necessary. It felt like Zoe was getting better with Tig, although the progress was slow, she wasn't freaking out around him, but that still wasn't enough. She didn't know how to get Zoe past her fear of Tig and up to a level of interaction that the little girl had with Juice. It helped that Juice was great with Zoe, his energetic yet easy going nature (Mia was sure that it was the weed that caused this contrast) had Zoe relaxing around him faster than she had anyone, save for her Aunt.

The Puerto Rican in question hadn't spent a single night away from Mia's since L.A, which was odd for both of them; while Juice was known as the 'Sweet One', his attention span was so short that he rarely spent more than a week or two with anyone, but they'd been going strong for almost four weeks now. And Mia, well Mia didn't let people in, it was a fact, she didn't have relationships, when she wanted sex then she developed an 'Acquaintance's with Benefits' deal with a guy (and yes Acquaintance's was the correct term), she didn't really do the whole friend's thing either, being able to count how many she had on one hand. So Mia was in a place she wasn't used to and while that should freak her out, while she should have thought that they were moving too fast, when she was with Juice, it was like everything just fell into place. She didn't feel the need to worry around him, so instead of worrying that she wasn't worrying, she'd opted to just go with the flow.

Now it had been a month since she'd taken custody of Zoe and it was the little girl's first morning in day care, the options in Charming were pretty limited so Mia had had no choice but to send Zoe to Charming Prep's day care. For such a small town, Charming had an almost perfect mix of the upper middle class – people like the Oswalds, the Sutherlands, the Hales and a few other families who chose to mostly stay out of the small town politics that came with being the home to the SOA. The lower middle class – people like the members of the SOA and their families, and several hundred other families that tried their hardest to just stay out of the Sons' way. And of course what would be considered the working class – which consisted solely of the porn stars, the AB and the drug addicts. In fact the only thing missing was one or two of the super-rich, although Mia supposed she could be classed as one, not that anyone in town really knew how much she made. Due to this mix, Charming Prep, was the town's one and only private school, Mia was weary of sending Zoe somewhere so close to where her grandparents lived, but it was also the only place that offered a completely secure environment for the little girl. So Mia would have to just suck it up and hope for the best.

* * *

It was 08:30 and Zoe was due to start Day Care at 09:00, Mia was parked outside of Teller-Morrow with Zoe safely ensconced in a child seat in the back of the car, she looked down at her watch and then back at the Clubhouse, eyes trained on its doors like a hawk, unwilling to miss a single thing. That morning Juice had volunteered to go to the Clubhouse early and wake Tig, so that he could participate in Zoe's first day, but the older man was really cutting it fine now. It would take twenty minutes to reach Charming Prep on the outskirts of town, and Mia had to get to the bakery by 09:45 as one of her staff had called in sick that day. She wouldn't be able to wait for Tig much longer and texted exactly that to Juice. Luckily for both men Tig stumbled out of the Clubhouse five minutes later, with Juice hot on his heels, she and Tig had agreed the previous week that Juice would be the second emergency contact for the day care, in case anything happened to Zoe and both she and Tig were unreachable, so the younger biker was coming with them to see Zoe off.

Mia pulled up in front of Charming Prep at 08:55 exactly, the two bikers pulling up on either side of her car seconds later, causing the parents that were dropping off their children to stare and whisper. Mia got out of the car and pulled out Zoe's little bag, packed with a change of clothes, snacks and her favourite toy. She stood by the side of the vehicle and waited for the guys to join her, "Hey Tig, you think you're up to getting her out of the car?" she asked and Tig looked a mix of both ecstatic and worried. He nodded and opened the door to the Camaro and reached in to grab Zoe, the little girl tensed up as he picked her up, but she didn't make a noise of protest. Mia had told her time and time again that Tig wasn't a bad man, and that she wouldn't be in trouble for interacting with him, but it still wasn't fully getting through to the girl. Tig put her on the ground, but took her hand in his, and Mia came up on Zoe's side and held her other hand so that she would feel more at ease as they walked into the building. Juice followed closely behind them, not wanting to intrude on a moment he felt should belong to Tig, but also not wanting to be left outside with all the Stepford wives staring at him, he wasn't blind; some of the looks on those women's faces were right up Tig's alley, but not his.

It had taken twenty minutes and the promise that Mia would bring pink cupcakes with her to pick up Zoe at 14:00, but the little girl finally settled down enough that Mia felt she could leave her there. Just as she'd walked out of the door to the classroom she froze, "You know, maybe Zoe shouldn't stay here today." She said, turning to go back and grab her niece.

"Woah, hey!" Tig grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away from the door, "Zoe's fine, let's leave her here."

"But she looked so sad, she's not ready to be here!"

"She's three years old, she needs this." Tig said, "Besides what are you going to do, take her with you to work?"

"Yes! She can come with me to work. Every day. She never has to leave my side!"

"Mia!" Tig pulled her away from the door and gestured for Juice to join them and stop the sudden bout of crazy that had appeared in the young woman, "You have to leave her here!"

Juice's hands wrapped around her waist and tugged her to him, "Relax Babe, Zoe's gonna be just fine. She needs this."

"But, but she's not ready!"

"She is," Juice replied, "You've been working with her for a month, getting her ready for this, she can't just stay with you forever, she's gotta make friends, and you need some grown up time away from her."

"But, but-"

"Mia," Juice said gently, "She'll be fine, and the office have all of our contact details and pictures so that if, _if_ , anything happens we'll know. Now come on, if you hang around here any later they'll have to close the bakery early."

Pouting Mia stopped trying to get back through the classroom doors and let Juice and Tig guide her to the reception area of the day care, "I don't have a good feeling about this." She muttered and Juice squeezed her hip reassuringly.

"I know," he replied, "but you can't keep an eye on her 24/7. It was either this or ask Gemma to babysit."

At the mention of the Biker Queen, Mia frowned, in the past two weeks her interactions with the First Lady of SAMCRO had not gotten any better than her initial ones. Gemma still hated her, treated her like she was less than a Croweater, even when Juice was around. Of course Juice couldn't see it, not that she'd be caught complaining to him about Gemma Teller-Morrow. It was clear he had a great deal of love and respect for the 'Mother of the Crows' and she wasn't about to look like some psychotic jealous bitch in front of Gemma. That would just push Juice away, which was exactly what Gemma wanted. So she did her best to keep a civil tongue around the Matriarch all the while fuming on the inside. To Gemma's credit, she didn't let her hate of Mia affect how she dealt with Zoe, but Mia was pretty sure that that was only because Zoe was Tig's daughter.

"Fine," she growled, "Let's just get this over with so that I can go to work and take my mind off the fact that I just left my niece in a room full of strangers."

Juice and Tig watched as she stormed off with amusement, "Wow," Tig said.

"What can I say," Juice shrugged, "I am the pussy whisperer."

Rolling his eyes Tig followed Mia to out of the day care with Juice hot on their heels, he wasn't about to be left behind at Charming Prep, he was sure if they were separated for even a minute then someone would call the cops to arrest him. "Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

It was lunch time in Charming when Mia was finally wrapping up her shift in the bakery, it was almost time to collect Zoe from day care when she was surprised by two bikers walking into the place she had renamed _**Sweet Treats**_. It was surprising, because it wasn't the bikers she was used to spending her time with, it was the blonde that had hit on her when she first arrived in town, Jax, and a man with curly brown hair, a beard and a defined beer belly, if her memory served her, that was Bobby, the Club's Treasurer. Raising an eyebrow in question she made her way to the front counter to find out what exactly they wanted. "Gentlemen, how can I help you today?"

Jax smiled at her and shoved his hands in the pockets of his Jeans looking for something, "How you doing darling?" he asked as he searched.

"I'm doing just fine Jax, and yourself?"

"Well I'm not going to deny I'm not still a little heartbroken that you chose Juice over me." He smirked and pulled out the piece of paper he'd been looking for with one hand and put his hand over his heart with the other.

"What can I say Jax, that surfer boy look doesn't really do it for me." Bobby snickered in amusement at that, causing the young woman to turn her attention to him for a moment, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"I don't look like a surfer boy!" Jax protested.

"Keep telling yourself that," she smirked, "who's your friend?" she asked again.

Jax shot Bobby a look causing the older man to burst into laughter, Jax was not used to getting shot down by the women in town, especially more than once, and Bobby, much like the rest of his brothers found it hilarious. "This is Bobby Munson, he wanted to come down and check out your _**Sweet Treats**_ ," Jax said, putting heavy emphasis on the shop's name, making it sound filthy.

Scrunching her nose in distaste for a moment, Mia looked back at the blond, "I hope you meant the baked goods, because I'll tell you the same thing I told that old man who couldn't stop doing shots of Tequila and couldn't stop himself from staring at my ass when I walked away from him, anything else will result in you getting a knife through your hand."

"That was you?!" Bobby exclaimed, he'd heard the story from Opie, when he saw that Piney was more ornery than usual and thought it was hysterical, "Oh honey you are becoming one of my favourite people around and I only just met you!"

"Well thank you Mr Munson, tell me, what can I get you?"

"Please, call me Bobby, and I'd love it if I could get a slice of that cheesecake that you just put out."

"No problem," she cut him a big slice, "You guys eating in or do you want it to go?"

"We'll take it to go honey, we've got to get back to the garage soon."

She boxed it up and along with one of the chocolate chip cookies Jax was eyeing appreciatively, "I'm assuming you didn't just come in for a quick snack." She said, handing over the goods.

"Right," Jax handed over the paper in his hand, "Opie's son is turning eight on Sunday, Mom wanted to know if you can make a cake for him for Sunday afternoon. She put the specs down on paper for you."

Looking over the paper she nodded, it was an easy bake, and the decorator would be able to make sure it looked pretty. "Sure thing, is someone coming to pick it up?"

"Actually, this Sunday is Mom's family dinner, she told me to invite you over, seeing as how your niece makes you family now. She figured you could just bring it over." Jax shrugged, he watched her carefully for her reaction. It was no secret that Gemma wasn't a fan of the woman before him, but she loved kids, and wasn't going to take it out on Tig's daughter, especially when he was trying so hard to get her to treat him like she treated Juice.

To her credit Mia gave nothing away, the monthly 'family dinners' were incredibly important to Gemma, there was only one of two reasons why she would be invited, the first (and the most unlikely) was that Gemma had finally accepted that no matter what Mia was there to stay, and as long as Tig wanted a relationship with his daughter, she always would be. The second (and much more likely in her opinion), was that Gemma wanted to see what Mia was like under pressure, she wanted to see if she would crack in front of Juice and the rest of the Club, and as a result pull away from the Intelligence Officer. Either way Mia had to go, otherwise she would just look weak.

"Sure, just give me the address and time and I'll be there." She smiled at Jax and he wrote down the rest of the information for her.

"We've gotta head back, I'll see you Sunday," Jax said.

"It was nice meeting you," Bobby said as they made a move to leave.

"Wait!" she called, "Can you do me a favour and remind Tig to get his ass here in half an hour so we can pick up Zoe?"

Jax looked at her for a moment, "What's in it for me?" of course he would remind the S.A.A, but if he could get something out of it, even better.

Rolling her eyes, Mia grabbed two empty boxes from under the counter and packed a dozen freshly baked muffins in them. Putting the boxes in two bags so that they were easier for the guys to carry, she eyed Jax for a moment, "On the house, _as long as_ you remind Tig, _and_ share it with the guys."

Jax grabbed the bag before she could change her mind and grinned, "I'll tell 'em, see you later Darlin'."

He and Bobby walked out, leaving the bakery quiet for the first time since it had opened, sighing Mia took a seat behind the display case thinking about the Sunday dinner at Gemma's, she would have to be on top form to ensure that Gemma didn't see anything to exploit, there was something about that woman that just rubbed her the wrong way.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognise.
> 
> Thanks for the Kudos and comments!

It was Sunday morning and Juice was sat on the picnic table in the TM lot, smoking a joint, enjoying the sun rise. It was traditional for the garage to be shut one Sunday a month, so the Club had no excuse not to be at Gemma's Sunday dinner. And because of that tradition, the Saturday before, the garage was open for 24 hours so that they wouldn't run behind, and Juice had spent the first night in over a month, away from the warmth and comfort of Mia's bed. He'd volunteered to take two shifts that Saturday, the lunch shift which was Tig's so that the older man could spend a couple of hours with Zoe without him around and the last shift before the morning so he was the only one up, and once he'd finished his joint he was planning on heading to Mia's to get some sleep. Taking a long drag, Juice leant back on the table, relishing in the quiet time, his ADD and OCD made it difficult for his mind to shut off and for him to just relax, so it was times like this, when everything was quiet, that he truly cherished.

The door to the Clubhouse opened and startled the mohawked biker, he saw his brother and VP, Jax, walk out and head over towards him. "You're up early," Juice said, holding out the joint to the blond next to him.

"You're not gonna sleep?" Jax asked, "You know Gemma'll flip if you're late to dinner today, it's Kenny's birthday after all."

"Nah I'm just chilling, I'll head over to Mia's in a bit and crash."

Jax tossed a look at the younger man before handing the joint back, "You know, you could just sleep here, you do have a dorm room available to you."

Juice shrugged, "Sure, but I've got a beautiful half naked woman waiting for me back at the house."

"You could have more than one woman here," Jax replied, "I'm just saying you've been spending a lot of time with Mia lately."

Juice frowned and looked over at the other man, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jax shook his head and looked away for a moment, "It's nothing, you know, it's just, it's not like you're serious about her, and I'm hearing things from the Croweaters, they miss you."

"What makes you think I'm not serious about her?" Juice asked defensively, "Is it the way that I haven't spent a single night away from her in the last month? Or is it the fact that I haven't even looked at another woman since I started seeing Mia? Or is it that you don't think she's serious about _me_?" He pushed off the table and turned to face his brother, "I mean that's it right? She's smart, successful, beautiful, what possible interest would she have in me other than sex?" He wasn't one to lose his temper, his brothers knew him as totally chill, so Jax was shocked when he saw the younger man start to get angry.

"Juice man that's not what I'm saying." Jax started.

"So tell me, what are you saying then Jax?" Juice scowled.

"I just mean that you haven't known her long, it's a little soon to be getting serious with her, especially when she's got a kid, that belongs to Tig."

Juice clenched his fist and took a long drag on his joint in an effort to refrain from punching his VP, " _That's_ what this is about?!" He said incredulously, "You think I'm- You think I'm trying to be Zoe's FATHER!" he yelled, he dropped his joint and crushed it under his boot, and grabbed his Kutte, that was lying on the table top and threw it on, "I am NOT, trying to be Zoe's father, I'm not trying to take her away from Tig!" He ran a hand over his head, "It's not my fault, Zoe's psycho mom traumatised her! And it's not my job to make sure things are good between Zoe and Tig!" He turned to leave and was stopped by Jax's hand on his arm.

"Juice wait-"

He shrugged out of Jax's hold and turned to face him for a moment, "Jax you're my VP, my brother, and my friend, but what I do when I am not working here, or on Club Business is none of your business! Stay out of my life Jax!" he walked away from Jax before he did something he'd regret and got on his bike, speeding out of there before Jax could stop him. _'So much for my quiet morning.'_ He thought to himself.

Jax watched Juice drive away and sighed, "That didn't go how I planned," he muttered.

Chibs joined Jax at the picnic table, "Well done Jacky Boy," he frowned at the younger man, "I've never seen Juice so angry before, actually come to think of it, I've never seen Juice angry at all before. Good job Jax."

"Yeah, yeah, I fucked up, I know." He eyed the crushed joint on the ground and sighed, "He even wasted some perfectly good weed, you think I should go after him?"

"Oh aye, that's a good idea, piss him off more before little Kenny's birthday party. Leave him alone, and let his woman take care of him. Hopefully he'll calm down before he gets to Gem's."

* * *

Juice walked inside Mia's, dropping his keys in the bowl by the door; he took off his shoes and hung up his kutte next to her jacket before heading upstairs to her room. He took a quick peek inside Zoe's room, making sure the little girl was still fast asleep and he hadn't disturbed her, before going into the master bedroom down the hall. Quickly he stripped down to his boxers, and brushed his teeth, sliding between the covers of Mia's bed and carefully wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest. Mia stirred as she felt Juice press against her and she turned sleepily in his arms, "Juice?" she whispered, "What's wrong Baby?" Even half asleep she could feel the tension in his body.

"Nothing Babe, go back to sleep," he replied.

Opening her eyes, she tilted her head so that she could look him in the eye, he was upset, she could tell, but he didn't want to talk about it. Pressing her lips to his in a gentle kiss, she rested her head on his chest and her hand on his stomach, "Whenever you want to talk, I'm here to listen." She whispered, closing her eyes, and sighing as she felt him start to run his fingers through her hair.

Juice closed his eyes and relaxed into the soft mattress, he felt her breath brush against his bare chest, and felt her melt into his side, his mind quieting down slowly. _'Maybe I don't need a joint to make all the noise to disappear,'_ he thought to himself as he drifted off.

* * *

It was four in the afternoon and Mia and Zoe were at _**Sweet Treats**_ , Mia had closed the place early so that she could finish up Kenny's cake and get to the dinner party at Gemma's on time. Juice had said that he would go with them to the dinner, opting to avoid his brothers as much as possible that day. She didn't know what had happened, Juice was still unwilling to talk about it with her, but whatever it was had set him off, he'd never been so tense around her before and he'd been adamant that he didn't want to go and hang with his brothers as was usual on the last Sunday of every month. Mia had let it go for now, knowing that he'd needed to sort through his own thoughts first, but she also figured that if anything was seriously wrong then he would tell her eventually. So, she was just sliding the cake into a box when Juice pulled up outside on his motorcycle, and Zoe jumped up from her seat, rushing to the front of the shop. Mia was thankful that she'd thought to lock the door to the shop, with Zoe coming out of her shell more and more, she was beginning to act like a real kid, including running off without a second thought.

Mia joined her niece in the front and unlocked the door for Juice, "Hey, let me just put the cake in the car and then we can go." She said as he walked inside.

Juice scooped Zoe up and dropped a kiss on her cheek, following Mia into the back, considering that it was a SAMCRO dinner they were going to, the cake was pretty big, so he wasn't going to make her pick it up, "Nah, here, you take the Princess," he passed Zoe along to her Aunt, "I'll grab the cake."

Carefully he slid the box into his hands, making sure not to put pressure on the sides and damage the cake, he lifted it up and Mia opened the back door for him to walk through, and quickly headed over to her car so that he could put it down without dropping it. "Careful," she murmured as he gently eased the cake into the trunk. She was going to have to drive slowly all the way to Gemma's to make sure nothing happened to it. Once she was sure the cake was secure, she let Juice strap Zoe into the car while she locked up the bakery.

When she was done she headed back out to her car, Juice was leaning against its side and Zoe was buckled into her car seat. Mia took in his body language as she walked towards him, despite her best attempts when they had woken up that day, there was still something in his eyes that told her that he was uneasy, he was still tense, his smile was a little too forced. She didn't like it, whatever had happened before he came home that day had him on edge. Getting close to him, she slipped her arms around his waist and tilted her head up so that she could meet his lips in a soft kiss. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" she asked softly.

Juice's arms wrapped around her and he shook his head, "It's nothing."

Tightening her hold on him she rested her head against his chest, laying her head right over his heart so she could hear its strong beat, "It's not nothing Juice, whatever happened, you're still upset, you don't think I can feel how tense you are?"

Juice ran a hand over his Mohawk and sighed, resting his full weight against the car, "I know, I just, I need to deal with this myself okay."

Dropping a kiss on his T-shirt covered chest, right above his heart she pulled back, "Okay, I'll leave it alone for now, but if it keeps bothering you, you're going to have to tell me what's wrong. I don't like to see you upset."

Nodding he let go of her waist and stood up straight, "Deal," he said, sealing their agreement with a swift kiss. "Now let's get going before we're late and Gemma kills us." He waited until she'd gotten into the car before getting on his bike and following her out.

* * *

Juice, Mia and Zoe walked into Gemma's house, Juice was holding the cake, and barely dodged Ellie and Kenny running through hallway, "Hey! Watch it!" he called, narrowly avoiding dropping the cake. "Babe a little help here!" he called as he tried to navigate his way to the kitchen.

"Shit," Mia muttered, crouching down to look her niece in the eye, "hey Princess, Daddy's right over there," she pointed Tig out to the little girl. The man in question was sat on the couch in deep discussion with Happy and hadn't noticed them enter the house yet. "I'm sure he'd love it if you gave him a hug."

Zoe looked up at her aunt worriedly, her Daddy hadn't been mean to her at all, not like her Momma, but she still worried, she didn't want to do anything to upset him. Her Daddy was nice, but he still scared her sometimes, she knew he didn't mean to do it, he always looked so sad when he did, but it still happened. "Can I go with you?"

Mia shook her head, "Sorry Princess, I've got to go help set up the cake."

"Mia!" Juice called from the kitchen.

"I'm coming!" she yelled back, "Go on," she nudged her niece, "maybe if you're really good, Mr Happy will tell you about one of his tattoos."

Zoe's eyes widened at that, ever since she'd first seen Happy, she'd been fascinated with the inked biker, even going so far as to follow him around one afternoon when her Aunt had been late to pick her up from Tig's work. She nodded and rushed over to the two men, tugging on Tig's pant leg to get his attention.

Tig looked down and his face lit up when he saw Zoe, she'd come up to him without Juice or Mia needing to be there to make sure she didn't freak out. All the extra time he'd been spending with her had been paying off; Juice had been taking extra shifts at the garage so that he could spend time with his daughter without the younger man there to distract her. He hadn't told his brother, but he was so grateful that Juice was sacrificing time spent with his girl so that he could connect with his daughter. "Hey Princess!" Tig smiled.

Zoe raised her arms to him and Tig scooped her up and deposited her in his lap before she changed her mind, "Hi Daddy," she mumbled, burying herself into Tig's side when one of the Croweaters that were helping at the party came over and sat on the arm of Happy's chair. Tig had noticed that Zoe wasn't fond of the Croweaters, and when he'd asked Mia about it she'd told him that Zoe didn't like the way they looked, or the way they smelled, it was like the Croweaters all shopped at the same store and bought the same perfume as her mum and it made her uneasy. Torn between wanting his daughter close to him and looking to him for protection and wanting her happy, eventually he told the Croweater to beat it, she made his daughter uncomfortable and that wasn't okay. He was rewarded with a smile from Zoe and he felt her relax into him.

He and Happy continued their discussion for a few minutes before she pulled on his kutte, causing him to look down, "What is it Princess?" he asked.

She pulled on his kutte again and Tig got the idea that she wanted to whisper something to him, he leant down to her level so she could say what she wanted and when she did Tig held in a laugh and sat back up straight, "I don't know Princess, you're going to have to ask him."

Happy's dark eyes were locked on the pair, the kid had a weird fascination with him that he just couldn't shake, and despite his cold demeanour he couldn't be as gruff with her as he was with everyone else. Happy didn't have kids, but plenty of his brothers did, and they all called him 'Uncle Happy' so he knew how to act around them. He just thought it was strange that she wasn't scared of him like most of the kids were at first.

Zoe looked over at the man across from her and played with her fingers as she asked the question, "Mr Happy?"

"Yeah?" He grunted, the Club's enforcer was not a man of many words, he took a sip of his beer and nearly choked when she finished her question.

"Will the snake on your head really eat me if I get too close?"

He glared at Tig who was trying to hold in his laughter, no one had ever asked about his tattoos, but Zoe, Tig's baby girl, just had to come out and say something. He looked down at her, ignoring her father for the moment and spoke, "Come here."

Zoe's eyes widened and she looked back at her father, Tig nodded and gave her a little push, "Go on."

Zoe scrambled off of Tig's lap moved over to Happy, who picked up the little girl and had her stand on his legs, he tilted his head forward for her to see the tattoo, "It's okay, you can touch it." He said and waited as Zoe decided what she wanted to do. Auntie Mia said you had to wait for someone to say you could touch their drawings before she was allowed to, and Mr Happy had, but the snake looked so scary, she was sure its eyes followed her every time she moved.

At Zoe's hesitation, Tig stood and joined them, he put his hand on Happy's head and the other man scowled in displeasure, Tig was an arsehole, and Happy would have chewed him out. But Mia had heard him swear in front of Zoe once and read him the riot act, (that woman wasn't afraid of anything), so he wasn't going to say anything, he just shot his brother a death glare. "See Princess," Tig said, "It's not scary!" He poked Happy's skull with a finger and the Unholy One growled at him.

Zoe watched Happy for a moment before reaching her little hand out and tracing the ink on his head, Happy stilled as he felt her hands on his head, not wanting to scare Zoe, he relaxed into her touch. The rest of his brothers were out in the back yard so he wasn't concerned with how he would look indulging the kid.

Juice came into the living room to call the guys, the cake had been set up outside and Kenny was dying to tear into it, he paused when he saw Zoe on Happy's lap, her hands on his head, tracing the tattoo there and Tig her side with his hand on her back, making sure she didn't lose her balance. Pulling out his phone he took a quick picture before interrupting them. "Uh guys," all three of the room's occupants turned to look at him simultaneously, causing him to freak for a split second, given how creepy that looked. "The cake's all set up; we're just waiting on you guys."

Tig smirked at Juice and picked Zoe up, before she could decide to run off to the younger man and carried her out the room. Happy stood and stalked over to Juice, pointing a finger at his brother, "Not. A. Word." He said and walked out before Juice could give him a response. Shaking his head Juice followed them out; he was definitely putting that picture in Mia's photo album.

* * *

The dinner party was in full swing at Gemma's, the cake had been cut and passed around, Clay was manning the barbeque with Bobby. Donna was anxiously watching her kids' every move (she may not like the club, but she wasn't going to deprive Kenny of a birthday party, cake and presents from them, especially because she and Opie couldn't afford them on the salary he got from the mill). Gemma was alternating between ordering Croweaters around and shooting the shit with Luann Delany (the former porn star, now turned director); Jax and Opie were by the grille, talking about their bikes. Chibs, Tig, Happy, Juice, Zoe and Mia, were all sat on some lawn chairs in the middle of the backyard just chilling out. Zoe was sat with Tig in his chair, (something the older man was over the moon about, not that he'd show it), Mia was in Juice's lap, (either oblivious to the glares she was getting from the Croweaters and Gemma, or she just didn't care), and Chibs and Happy were across from them.

All in all, it had been a good day so far, if you didn't count the fight Juice had had with his VP that morning, and you also didn't count the fact that Mia just wanted to break Gemma's nose every time the Queen B shot her a withering glare. As Clay finished up on the grill he called for everyone to gather at the table that had been set outside. Naturally he sat at the head of the table, with Jax on his right and Gemma on his left, the head of the table was for the power of SAMCRO. Luann, Bobby, Happy and Chibs were on Gemma's side of the table, with Tig, Zoe, Mia, and Juice on the opposite end. Piney sat on the other end of the table with Opie, Donna and the kids surrounding him. The Croweaters had been relegated to eating in the kitchen, which was another reason why they had joined Gemma on the 'we hate Mia' bandwagon. She had only just come to Charming and already was being afforded the privileges of a family member, and all because she had the good fortune to take in a kid that belonged to one of SAMCRO's members.

Once everybody was seated, Clay cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention, it was traditional for Clay or Gemma to say a few words before everyone dug into their food and Clay didn't think that Gemma would be able to keep a civil tongue with Mia at the table, especially with the way she'd been throwing shade and the younger woman all day. "I'd just like to say, thank you all for joining us for dinner today…although you all know not coming was not an option." That got a few chuckles from the guys; everyone knew what would happen if you didn't show up to a family dinner that you were invited to. "Now today is special for two reasons, the first and foremost of course being young Kenny's birthday, another year older, and another year closer to becoming SAMCRO just like your old man." Donna looked away at that, she couldn't stand the thought of her son joining the club like Opie, going to jail like Opie, if she had anything to say about it, he wouldn't go anywhere near the Clubhouse. Clay lifted his beer bottle and tipped it in Kenny's direction, the guys following suit, "Happy Birthday Kenny."

There was a round of Happy Birthday's from everyone else before the Club's President continued, "And of course the other big news," he turned his head towards Mia and Zoe, "today we welcome two new members into the family. Zoe," the little girl's eyes shot to Clay, who smiled at her, "Tig may be your father, but I want you to know, every person at this table is your family, and everyone here will always be there for you. So little girl, you've got a lot of Aunts and Uncles now to take help take care of you." The guys all nodded, and Zoe squeezed Mia's hand when she got all their attention, "Mia, you're not just Zoe's Aunt, you're also the one who gave Tig his second chance at being a father, you're Juice's girl, you're a part of this family, and we welcome you with open arms. Now, with that out of the way, let's eat!"

The guys at the table gave a little cheer and dug into their food and for a few minutes nothing could be heard except the chewing of food and the clinking of silverware on plates. "So, Mia lass," Chibs started, reaching for his beer and taking a swig, "what is it you do? Besides run a bakery I mean."

She shot a quick look at Juice and Tig, silently telling both men to keep their mouths shut about what she did, and she answered him. "I'm Head of West Coast Acquisitions for _**Leverage Incorporated**_."

"Right we know that," Bobby cut in, "but what exactly does that mean?" Neither he, nor Jax, nor Clay had been able to get a straight answer out of Juice or Tig.

"Exactly what it says," Mia shrugged, "I acquire things. For paying clients."

"Yeah but how? You just walk into a place and 'acquire' what you need?" Bobby asked. He didn't know much about Mia, and his brothers had been unwilling to share, so he would have to get his information directly from the source.

Smiling Mia cut into her dinner and took a bite before speaking, "Of course not, the company has people that find what our clients want or need, and then there's people like me, that will go in and… _negotiate_ the release of those items. I make sure that there are no problems when we acquire something, _dodge_ any obstacles, _navigate_ all the complicated _twists and turns_ so that I get what I came for, always."

Juice took a long swig of his beer in an effort to hide the smile that was growing on his face.

"Well that's great," Clay cut in, "But you've given us a lot of information without giving us any information. What does your company do?"

Mia couldn't help but let a smirk appear on her face, after finding out that she was a thief, Juice and Tig had never actually asked about the company specifically, so they had never heard the _**Leverage**_ tag line. "Say you've lost a family member, and it wasn't an accident, it wasn't a health problem, it was due to negligence, or gross misconduct, or just plain greed. Like any good citizen, you try to find out the why, and the who, and the how, but the company you're up against have an army of lawyers blocking you at every turn. People like that, corporations like that, they have all the money and all the power, and they use it, to try and make people like you go away. Normal people, they suffer under an enormous weight, we provide _**Leverage**_." She shrugged, "And unless you actually become a client of ours, that's all the information you're getting."

"You help people." Jax said almost curiously, dissecting the small amount of information they had been given.

"What can I say? I'm all about public service." She smiled and dug into her food. When it was clear that they weren't going to get anything else out of her, the conversation moved on to more mundane things.

Two hours later when the dishes were being cleared away by Croweaters and they guys were enjoying beers on the back patio, Gemma cornered Mia inside the house. "That was an interesting little story you told at dinner."

"Story?" Mia asked, putting the left-over cake into boxes for the guys to take back to the Clubhouse.

"The one all about you 'helping' people." Gemma was stood leaning against the wall in the dining room, "Clearly you're just trying to make yourself look good in front of the boys."

Mia scoffed and shook her head, "Think what you'd like Gemma, but I know what I do, so does Juice, that's all that really matters."

"Oh please, Juice is an idiot but even he doesn't believe your bullshit story about what you do."

"Juice may be one of your 'boys' but you don't really know him," she shook out the tension in her shoulders, suppressing the urge to rip out the Queen of Crows blonde highlights. "And just for the record, he's not an idiot."

"You can't possibly think that Juice is going to stay with you, he's only been with you this long so that Tig can get to know his kid."

"Oh so now you believe that I don't want Juice to be Zoe's father? Because last time we talked, you were sure I was trying to push Tig out of her life and trick Juice into being a daddy. In fact, last we spoke, you were sure that Juice wasn't going to be with me for another week, and yet here we are, together for a month, and he still hasn't looked at a Croweater."

"You listen here you trashy whore," Gemma got right up in her face, "Juice is a patched member, _nothing_ comes before the Club for him, _nothing_ , and you aren't anything but a warm hole for his dick and personal chef for when he wants a home cooked meal. It's just a matter of time before you end up like any other gash that wants in on this family. You'll be tossed aside and used, like the Sweet-butt you are."

Mia scowled at Gemma and shoved her away from her, she was furious, but she couldn't just lay Gemma out, not in her own house, and not when the whole Club was around. "No, you listen to me Old Woman." She hissed, "You don't know me, you don't know what I'm capable of, you don't know what I can do to you. So, I'm giving you this one chance, back off, stay out of my love life, or you and I will be having a very different conversation, one that will not end well for you." Turning back to the table, she slammed the last cake box shut and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Later that night, Mia lay in bed with Juice, both of them naked and sweaty from their regular bedroom acrobatics, but both still tense. "So are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?" she asked, looking over at him.

"Well that depends, are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?"

"I asked you first," she said.

"I asked you second, and two is bigger than one so you should tell me first," he replied.

Letting out a little laugh, she shook her head, "That's not how it works Juice, you tell me, I tell you."

Sighing, Juice gripped her hip and pulled her close to him, "Jax thinks that I'm trying to push Tig out, be Zoe's father, take her away from him. And I guess he's worried that it'll affect the Club."

"What?!" Mia asked incredulously, "That's bullshit! You've been taking extra shifts at the garage so that Tig can spend time here with Zoe! Doesn't he know that?"

"Jax doesn't work as many shifts as I do, and when he's not working at the garage or for the Club, he's neck deep in pussy."

Rolling her eyes, she nestled into Juice's side, "Of course he is, I hope you set him straight, I don't need him making trouble where there is none."

"I did," Juice said, "but…"

"'But' what?"

"He said this wasn't serious."

"What isn't serious?"

"This," he gestured to the them both, "us, he doesn't believe this means anything."

"He doesn't believe this means anything…or he doesn't believe you mean anything to me?" at his silence she sighed, "Hey, look at me." She tilted her head up so that he could meet her eyes, "This is serious, _I_ am serious about you Juice." Pushing herself up and moving up so that they were eye level, she ran a hand over his smooth cheek, "It's been a month, if I wasn't serious about you, you wouldn't still be here. I care about you a lot, Juan Carlos Ortiz, you're my man, don't let Jax make you think otherwise."

"Yeah?" he asked, pulling her head down for a kiss.

"Yeah," she confirmed, she could feel the tension in him disappear as she confirmed it.

"Good, now what's up with you?"

Sighing she lay back down and shook her head, she didn't want to get him worked up again, now that she'd finally got him to relax. "It's not important."

"Bullshit, I told you what was up with me, now it's your turn."

"Fine, but you have to promise me that you aren't going to do anything, I can take care of it myself."

"Just tell me!"

"Juice!"

"Alright, alright, I promise, now tell me."

"You remember the talk Gemma and I had that day at the Club, when I went to go and tell Tig about the paternity results?" he nodded and she continued, "Well that day, she implied that I was trying to trap you into being Zoe's father, and that I was nothing but a new piece of pussy to you."

"Babe-"

"It's fine," she cut in, "we hadn't exactly been together long at the time, but today at the party. She cornered me, told me that my work story was bullshit, that I meant nothing to you, that you were only with me so long because you didn't want me to take Zoe away from Tig. And that I was nothing but a personal chef for you and a warm hole for your dick, and that sooner rather than later I was just going to end up being a Sweet-butt."

"She said what!" Juice sat up, pulling her with him, "Babe, Gemma said that, to your face?"

"I know you love her, and I know she's like everyone's mom but-"

"Babe stop, you don't need to justify yourself to me, shit now I know where Jax got the idea from." His eyes shot to hers, "You know she wasn't right, right? You're not just a warm hole for me, I haven't touched another woman since our first night together." His hands came up to cup her face, "You know that, right?"

Nodding she took his hands in hers, "I know."

"You're my girl Mia, I mean it, you're serious about me, well I'm serious about you."

* * *

The next day Juice asked to speak to Clay in chapel alone, "What is it Juice?" Clay asked, even though he had a feeling he knew what it was about, his wife had come to bed fuming after dinner, it had made for some great angry sex.

"I'm coming to you because Gemma's your Old Lady Clay, I love Gemma, but telling my girl that she's nothing but a warm hole for my dick, telling her that she's going to end up a Sweet-butt. Telling her that she's trying to trap me into being a dad. That shit's not okay Clay. Gem's the Queen around here, but she has no idea about the things my girl has done to survive, and if she comes at Mia again, there's no telling what she'll do."

"Shit Juice, you sure that's what she said?"

"Why else would Jax say the same damn things to me, on the same day? Gemma means a lot to me Clay, but you tell her to stay out of my personal life, as long as it doesn't affect the Club, it's no one's business but mine."

Clay nodded, he didn't like anyone calling out his Old Lady, but Gemma had crossed a line she knew she shouldn't have. Mouthing off to Mia was one thing, but getting Jax involved and convincing him to talk to Juice about it? That was not ok, Juice's personal life was none of her business and it looked like he was going to have to step in. Shit, he hated getting involved in Old Lady Business. "I'll talk to her." He agreed.

Juice moved to leave and looked back at his Pres just before opening the door, "I mean it Clay, Gemma comes at her like that again, I will shut that shit down."

"I said I'll talk to her! Now get back to work!" Clay said viciously, he was the Club President, First Nine, being called out by a younger Patched member was not something he liked, but he did appreciate the fact that Juice had come to him privately. Instead of around the other boys or taking his anger straight to the source. The kid was smartening up, and he was sure that it had something to do with the new woman in his life.

Juice left and Clay leant back in his chair, "Shit!" He was going to have to have a serious talk with Gemma.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you guys recognise.
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and Kudos!

Mia was just putting away the last of the stuff in the back of _**Sweet Treats**_ , when the door to her shop opened, the little bell at the top ringing, signalling a new customer. "Sorry we're closed!" she called from the back.

"Closed? Well that's too bad, I heard this place had the best cupcakes." The customer lamented.

Hearing the voice, Mia popped her head around the corner in shock, "Link?!"

"In the flesh." The hacker spread her arms wide and was rewarded with a bone-crushing hug from the younger woman.

"What the shit Link!" Mia pulled away from her friend, her smile still present on her face, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming down?"

The red-head shrugged, "I wasn't sure if I was. I had to talk to Harp and we decided that being based in LA while you live here isn't feasible for _**Leverage**_."

"Wait, you and _Harp_ decided that you couldn't stay in LA? You and _Harp_? I thought she was in Tashkent for like the next month."

"Well if she is then who the hell is waiting for me in the car?"

Mia's eyes widened and she shot out of the bakery, outside she found a dark haired woman leaning against Link's car, "Harp!" Mia called and enveloped the older woman in a hug, "Seriously, what are you guys doing here?"

"Link and I decided that it wouldn't be profitable to be so far apart." Harp's English accented voice replied.

"So what, you guys are moving to San Francisco?" she looked at them hopefully. She liked Charming, but despite Juice's best efforts, she was alone in the small town, having her friends close by would do wonders for her. After all San Francisco was only and hour and a half away.

Shaking her head, Link joined them, "I've set up an office there, but we want to be close to you, and the kid, you're looking at the newest residents of this _Charming_ little town."

"Are you serious?!" Mia asked incredulously, "Oh my God! I can't believe it! Wait, what about your brother?" she looked at Link who shrugged.

"Caleb's at our new house right now, it turns out a job opened up at St Thomas, and he's now the newest neurosurgeon at the local hospital."

"Link, Harp, I can't even-" Mia cut herself off as she tried to comprehend the fact that her family had moved to Charming just for her, "You don't know- I missed you so much!" she finally said, trying hard not to tear up at the sight of the two people who had been her whole world for the past ten years.

"Awe Mia, c'mon," Harp shrugged out of Mia's grip, "you know I hate emotional reunions." She said and pulled back from her, but as she did, she caught sight of the younger woman's eyes, wet with unshed tears of joy. "Damn it Mia!" she pulled her friend to her in a hug and Link joined them, enveloping them both, making it a group hug. It only lasted for a few moments before all three women pulled back, and put their game faces back on.

"Well," Link said, "now that that's over, shall we go check out our new place?"

"Yesss- No, I can't, I've got to go pick up Zoe from the Clubhouse, her Daddy picked her up from Day Care today." Mia replied.

"That's fine, we'll go pick up _my_ Goddaughter and then check out the house," Link shrugged, heading to the car.

"Oh no, she's not your Goddaughter," Harp protested, "I didn't even get the chance to meet her yet!"

Mia shook her head as she heard her friends bicker and headed back inside the bakery to lock up, she came back out and climbed into the car with them, "Alright girls, let's go!"

Harp and Link looked at each other and then at the woman in the back, "Where's your car?" Harp asked.

"Juice drove me to work this morning," she shrugged.

"Who's Juice?"

"He's the hot biker she's been banging," Link supplied.

"Link!"

"What? Are you going to deny it?"

Pouting, Mia settled into the backseat, "No, he's superhot."

Harp snorted in amusement and turned the car on, "I'll be the judge of that!"

* * *

Harp pulled into TM's lot and got out the car, looking around she was unimpressed, "This is the Clubhouse?"

"No," Mia said climbing out of the car, "This is the garage, _that's_ the Clubhouse," she pointed out the building next door, "Let's go get my niece!"

As they walked towards the Clubhouse, Harp's attention was drawn to the boxing ring that had been set up in the lot, "Hey Mia?"

"Yeah?"

"Zoe, does she have crazy dark hair, pale skin, about yay high?" Her hand cam up to just above her knee.

"Yes why?"

"Because she's over there, in the boxing ring."

"What?!" Mia turned to look at the ring and sure enough Zoe was in the ring with Happy, and the Prospect. The Prospect was on his knees, he had hunched down so that he was eye level with the little girl. Happy was showing Zoe how to make a decent fist and was teaching her, what Mia could only assume, was how to fight.

Tig was outside the ring, leaning on the apron, watching with a 'proud papa' look on his face.

Mia scowled and stormed over, "HAPPY FREAKING LOWMAN!" she yelled causing everyone but the Unholy One to jump, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH MY BABY GIRL?!"

Tig took a step back as Mia made her way over there, hoping to stay out of her line of sight so that he wouldn't catch shit from her too.

Happy took one look at the look on Mia's face and pointed straight at Tig, he wasn't going to go down for this alone, "It was his idea."

Mia's gaze turned to Tig, her green eyes blazing with fury, Zoe was a little kid, she didn't need to be learning anything like fighting at her age, "Alexander Trager, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"

Tig shot Happy an angry look, "She needs to know this stuff!" he protested.

"SHE'S THREE! Who does she need to beat up in Day Care?!"

"It's never too early to start."

"Never too early to-" she cut herself off and looked over at Happy incredulously, "You went along with this!"

Happy shrugged, "She's SAMCRO's Princess, she needs to know this shit."

Mia looked at both of them in disbelief, she'd never been in a situation like this before, she had no idea what to do. Bobby, who'd heard the commotion had gone to wake Juice, who was taking a nap in his dorm, and the younger man stumbled out of the Clubhouse dazed and confused. Mia honed her gaze on him and scowled, "AND YOU! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!"

"Uh, what?" he asked, rubbing his hand over his face, trying to wake himself up, he genuinely had no clue what was going on.

"That's it, no more baked goods for you two!" Mia pointed at Tig and Happy and then whirled on Juice, "And you! No sex for you!" With that she grabbed Zoe who was being distracted from the fight by the Prospect and left.

"Wait what?" Juice asked, "Mia!" he turned to look at his brothers, "What'd I do?" the confused look on his face was too much for the guys to bare and Tig and Happy cracked up. Chibs, taking pity on the younger man explained what had just gone on and Juice shot a glare at the two S.A.A's "You two better fix this, I'm not suffering for your mistakes." He turned and headed back inside to light a joint and catch up on the rest of his nap. He'd deal with his furious girlfriend later.

* * *

It was eight p.m. and Juice was about to leave the Clubhouse when Jax came up to him, Juice hadn't spoken to him since the day of Kenny's birthday. "Hey Juice, hold up." He lit a cigarette and handed one to the hacker.

"What's up Jax?" he asked as he walked out of the Club with the VP.

"I uh- I wanted to talk to you about the other day. What I said to you."

Juice sighed, sitting on his bike and fixing his helmet he looked at Jax, "There's nothing to talk about."

"Yeah there is," Jax insisted, "Tig told me about how you've been working extra shifts so that he can spend time with Zoe, told me how ever since he found out about her, you've been helping him get to know her. I shouldn't have said that I thought you were trying to replace Tig, you're not that kind of guy and I never should have thought it. I'm sorry."

Juice nodded in acceptance, "No chick flick moments dude, we're cool. But Mia's still pretty pissed at you, and your mom."

"Yeah, Gemma can have that affect on people," Jax smiled, "So she's really pissed at me huh?"

"I would not want to be on her bad side," Juice replied, "She used some pretty graphic language when she talked about you."

"Shit," Jax shook his head and moved over to his bike, "Alright then man let's go."

"Go. Go where?" Juice asked confused.

"Well she's your girl right?" at Juice's nod he continued, "Mean's she's going to be around for a while, I can't have her stay mad at me, besides, I heard Happy and Tig both got cut off from the bakery, that's not happening to me. I love sugar. Let's go man."

* * *

Mia was in her backyard laying on the grass, Harp and Link were with her, all three of them more than a little tipsy. Zoe was fast asleep and wouldn't wake up until seven the next morning, so Mia felt like it was ok to indulge a little, especially when she knew that Juice would be home any minute. At least, she hoped that he'd be home, she'd gotten a little angry at him, and had maybe threatened to cut him off from the good stuff. Once she'd calmed down and realised that he hadn't actually done anything wrong she felt a little bad.

Harp collapsed next to her in a fit of giggles, the three were reminiscing about past job and one of their idiot marks. The 30-year-old was a giggly drunk, all the time, Link on the other hand, was super chill when she was drunk, it was like she didn't have a care in the world. Mia was a flirt when she got drunk, and in that moment, with her friends, out there, staring up at the sky, all she wanted was Juice. "He's not coming," she pouted, "I yelled at him and told him he wasn't getting any, and now he's not coming, and I'm sooo horny."

"So call him," Link shrugged, taking another drink, "Apologise, and promise him some kinky sex if he comes back now."

Mia's eyes widened, "That's a great idea!" she pulled out her phone, dialled and waited for her man to answer.

"Hey Babe," Juice said.

"Juicy Baby!" she cried, "I'm so sorry I was mean to you." She frowned as she pushed a snickering Harp away from her, "I know it wasn't your fault, come home, please?" she asked.

"Babe are you drunk?" he asked, laughter in his voice.

"What?!" she sat up, "Shut up! No! Okay maybe just little." She laughed, "So will you come home?"

"Babe look behind you." She turned her head and there he was, standing on her back porch with a smile on his face. Snapping his phone shut he walked towards her and she stood up and met him half way. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him down for a long, deep kiss. "Hi Babe," he grinned, "You feeling better?"

"I'm so sorry Baby, I didn't mean it, do you forgive me?"

"Oh Mia, of course, I know you weren't really mad at me," he pulled her in close and kissed her again, "Now promise me you won't get mad at me now."

"What?" she asked confused, pulling away from him, "What do you mean? Why would I be mad?"

He turned them a little so she could see the back door to the house, and she saw Jax walk through it, "Hey Juice man, wait up!" he called.

"What is he doing here?" she frowned, she was still pissed at both Tellers and really didn't want either of them around her.

"He wants to apologise," he said.

"To who, to me? I'm not the one who he was talking shit to."

"No but you were the one he was talking shit about, and I know you're still pissed at him. Besides he said sorry to me."

"Really?" she asked sceptically, "What did you say?"

Juice shrugged, "No chick flick moments."

"Did you just quote Dean Winchester to me?" and Juice smirked, "That. Is such. A turn on." She pulled him back down to her, only to hear giggling coming from behind her.

Juice pulled away and looked at the two women who were lying in the grass staring up at them, "Link?" he asked, "And who's you other friend?"

Mia took his hand, momentarily distracted and dragged him over to the two women, "This is Harp," she works at _**Leverage**_ with us, she uh is our…Public Relations expert."

Harp laughed at that, Public Relations, she was the company's West Coast Hitter, she was the violent one, the one made sure that none of them got hurt while on a job, the one that protected them and the best the company could come up with for her cover was Public Relations. She held out her hand to him and he shook it, "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Juice."

"Ah, you must be Mia's new beau," she grinned and held out her bottle to him, "drink?" He held out his own beer bottle he'd grabbed from the fridge, indicating that he'd already had one. "Link said you were hot."

"Harp!" Mia exclaimed.

Harp looked Juice up and down with a smirk before turning her gaze to her younger friend, "Hey you agreed! You said he was 'superhot'! Well done," her eyes slid over to the other biker that had followed Juice out, "and who is this fine specimen of a man?"

Mia palmed her face, "Really Harp?"

Harp shrugged, "What? He's cute."

Jax smirked and held out his hand to her, "Hey there Darlin' Jax Teller at your service." Jax was perfectly charming, but his gaze was drawn to the red-head on the ground, who was ignoring him in favour of the stars that were just starting to come out. She was beautiful and just like Mia, it looked like she didn't give a fuck who he was.

"Hey Mia, could I talk to you?" Jax asked, "In private?"

Mia looked over at Juice, who nodded encouragingly at her, "Fine," she motioned him over to the house, "Come on."

As the two walked off Juice joined the two women on the grass, he leant back on one hand and took a sip of his beer, "You're okay with the two of them going off like that?" Link asked, "Alone?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Juice asked.

"Well he's pretty hot," Link shrugged.

"I'm not worried," Juice said, "She's turned him down twice, I trust her, and Jax tries anything, she'll punch him in the dick."

The women laughed at that, "She definitely would," Harp said.

"So, she said I was superhot?"

* * *

Mia stood in her kitchen, opposite Jax, "So talk," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look Darlin'" she glared at him, "Mia, I just wanted to apologise, I know you and Juice talked about what I said, what my mom said. I'm sorry, you and Juice and Tig, it's not affecting the Club, which means it's none of my business. I never should have said anything to him, and my Mom never should have said anything to you."

"I don't need you to apologise for your Mom."

"Well she's not going to apologise to you. Look I don't know what she said to you, but whatever it was, Clay was pissed. I caught the tail end of their fight a couple nights ago."

"Fine, you're sorry, whatever, we're cool." She moved to walk away, but Jax stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Wait, look you're Juice's girl, I've known him a long time, but I've never seen him like this with someone, my brother cares about you, a lot, so I don't want this to be an issue between us."

Mia nodded, she wasn't a fan of Jax, he took his mother's word as gospel and the way he came at Juice the day of the party, it wasn't fair, and it wasn't right, but she could see he was trying to make it right, and she knew that Juice wanted his brother back. Jax was his sponsor, and she knew that Juice loved him for bringing him into the Club. So, for her man, she'd let it go, just this once. "Ok, you're forgiven," she leant towards him for a moment, "but your Mom comes at me again like that, I'll rip out her trashy blonde highlights. Grab a beer from the fridge, you can stay if you want."

She walked away from him and Jax shook his head in exasperation, "Shit Gemma," he whispered to himself, "please don't piss this girl off anymore." He followed her and joined everyone outside.

* * *

Friday afternoon, Zoe had finished Day Care and was playing in the back office of the bakery, Mia was just finishing up her shift when the bell rang, and in walked the last two people on Earth she wanted to see. Ava's parents, Zoe's grandparents, the Sutherlands, she didn't know what they wanted but she wanted them out before Zoe heard their voices and realised who they were. There were a couple of customers in the shop, and you could tell that they were all curious about what was going to happen. By this time, just about everybody in town knew that Mia had taken the Sutherlands' grandchild, but they didn't know who she was to them, or why. All the heard were rumours and despite not being able to keep a secret between them in SAMCRO, the guys wouldn't say a word to any outsiders about it. The Croweaters didn't know much either, all they could give people was speculation. So, a chance to be able to see what was going on between the Sutherlands and their new arch enemy (that was a little dramatic but it's what people were calling Mia) was something that they weren't going to miss out on. So, all of a sudden, her customers became incredibly indecisive, drawing out their time in the bakery, hoping to get a little something that they could add to the rumour mill.

Turning to the man that was starting his shift, she whispered to him, "Do me a favour, call TM, ask for one of the guys and tell them who just showed up here." When he nodded, she turned back to the two new entrants "What do you two want?"

"Well we're in a bakery," Claire Sutherland sniffed, "one would assume that we'd like some baked goods."

"I've been open a month, you two haven't been here before, so it would stand to reason, you're not here for a muffin. Especially when there's that high end little bakery in your part of town. So, I'll say it again, what do you want?" She moved to the front of the counter, ready to block them should they try to get past her to her niece.

"We would like to see our granddaughter." Claire said, as though it was a perfectly reasonable request, and for anyone else it might be, but they'd neglected their granddaughter, knowingly left her in an unsafe environment and Mia wasn't about to let them anywhere near her.

"Oh," Mia said, as though she found that fine, "Well then, No."

"Excuse me young lady she is our family!" Mark Sutherland exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah, well she's my blood. And I say you're not seeing my kid."

"She is _not_ your child," Claire hissed.

Mia shrugged, "According to the state of California she is, and that's really all that matters."

"Yes well, she won't be for long," Mark arrogantly stated.

"Ah yes, the custody battle that you think that you can drag me into, tell me, have you managed to dig up any dirt on me yet?" she taunted, "Or are you still clutching at straws? Still trying to find something terrible on me that will make the courts think that you'd be better parents than I am."

"You are not a parent! You have no idea what it means to raise a child! None! You don't know the work you have to put in to raising your child right!"

"Well clearly neither do you." Mia replied, crossing her arms and cocking her hip to one side, "After all, I'm not the one with a junkie daughter that OD'd while her kid was at home."

"How dare you!"

"How dare I?! How dare you! How dare you leave Zoe with an _abusive_ junkie whore!"

"OUR DAUGHTER WAS NOT ABUSIVE!" Claire screamed, causing Zoe to hear her and step out of the office, wondering what was going on, she made her way to the front of the shop and gasped when she saw her grandparents, hiding behind the door she clutched at the stuffed giraffe Tig had bought her and tried not to cry.

"Not abusive? Not abusive!" Mia said incredulously, "She locked Zoe in a closet, she hit Zoe, threatened to beat her if she didn't do as she was told, she kept Zoe barely clothed, and barely fed, and you say she wasn't abusive. I think you're forgetting that I know exactly what living in a place like that can do to a kid, but then again, you must have wanted to forget that you paid a junkie whore to keep my sister for yourselves!"

Claire gasped, no one in town knew that Ava was adopted, they'd done everything they could to keep it a secret, it hadn't been all that difficult, when Claire had found out that she couldn't have children, she had reacted by spending as much time away from Charming as possible, when she came back with a child, no one questioned it, Ava had looked enough like both she and her husband that everyone had assumed that she'd had the child while on holiday somewhere and had spent the past few years navigating immigration to get her child to be a legal citizen. Neither she nor Mark had said otherwise and when any questions came up they'd let everyone believe that that was the truth.

The customers in the shop felt their jaws drop, what they were hearing was gossip gold! Ava Sutherland, abusive, Mark and Claire Sutherland, paying for a child! Whoever Mia was, she certainly brought a lot of drama with her.

As Mia and the Sutherlands continued arguing, the door to the bakery opened again, this time Chibs and the Prospect walked inside. "Well what's goin' on here then?" he asked, interrupting the fight.

Mia sighed in relief as they walked over to her, giving Chibs a hug; she whispered to him, "Go into the back, grab Zoe and take her to TM please," she slid the key to the back into the pocket of his mechanic overalls, "Go out the back. Thanks."

Chibs nodded and motioned for the Prospect to follow him, they walked through the doors to the back rooms and found Zoe curled up in a ball but the door, crying her eyes out. "Oh Lass," Chibs said kindly, picking her up and tossing the keys to the back to the Prospect, "Don't cry Sweetheart, Uncle Chibs is right here to look after ya."

"They wanna take me away!" she cried into his shoulder, as he carried her out of the building, "Don't let them take me away! Please Uncle Chibs!"

"Oh Princess," he climbed into the tow truck that he and the Prospect had bought, the kid was going to drive so that he could take care of the little girl, "Your Auntie Mia would never let that happen. She loves ya Baby Girl, and so does your Da'. You're not going anywhere Lass," he stroked her hair trying to sooth her but nothing was working, he hoped that Tig or Juice was back from their jobs for Club, the little girl needed one of them and fast, she was becoming hysterical.

Back in the shop Mia was seething, these were terrible people and they thought that they could just take Zoe from her? She would die before she let that happen. "Get out." She said, her voice had an unnatural calm to it, she wanted to kill them, and at this point she didn't care how many people saw.

"How dare yo-"

The male employee in the shop decided to cut in, he'd never seen Mia so angry before, "Ma-am, we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone we feel is causing a problem. You are causing a problem."

"Why you little- stay out of this! It's not any of your business!" Claire exclaimed.

"HEY!" a voice yelled from behind them, with all the commotion, no one had heard the motorcycle pull up, or the door open, it was Clay, "The lady said get out, and I suggest you do, this shop is protected by SAMCRO." The Club President crossed his arms and stared down at the two rich arseholes. When they didn't move, he spoke again, "Don't make me ask you twice, she asked you to leave, which means you're now trespassing on private property, and I am well within my rights to physically throw you out. Your choice."

Mark Sutherland huffed, he wouldn't show it, but Clay Morrow scared him, turning to glare at Mia, he put his hand on his wife's arm and ushered her out, "We'll see you in court," he sneered and then left as Clay shot him a dark glare.

Sighing Mia turned to the man behind the counter, "Jack, when your shift's over close up, I don't feel like coming back tonight."

Her employee, Jack, nodded, "No problem Mia."

"If they come back," she started.

"I'll call the cops, let Charming PD handle it."

"Thanks Jack," she said before turning to Clay, "Clay, how can I help you?"

Clay took one look at her and shook his head, her hands were shaking and he could tell that she was still trying hard not to lose her shit, "Let's talk in the back." He put a hand on her back and guided her to her office.

"Where's the kid?" he asked looking around.

"Chibs and the Prospect came and picked her up, you didn't send them? I had Jack call TM to get someone."

Clay shook his head, "I was in a meeting, I came by to talk to you."

"About what?" she asked, knowing that there was really only one thing that he could possibly be there for.

"Gemma," he said and she nodded.

"Look Clay, you don't have say anything, Jax already apologised on behalf of his mom, and I know you spoke to her. But she's an Old Lady and I'm Juice's girl, if we have a problem with one another it shouldn't spill over and affect the Club, I'm sorry about that."

Clay nodded in acceptance, Mia may not have been an Old Lady, but she was definitely acting like one, and he appreciated the fact that she understood Club politics; it was always a pain in the arse when some new gash started shit that interfered with the way the Club ran.

"Still, what Gemma said, it wasn't her business."

Mia shrugged, Clay was being very reasonable, and she didn't want to rock the boat for Juice, so she wouldn't make a big deal out of it…well not too big of a deal at least. "It's okay Clay, she wants to protect her family, I get that. As long as she's civil to me, I'll be civil to her, I don't want to cause you guys any problems. So, I'll let it go, as long she backs off."

That's all he could ask for from her, she was being much more reasonable than Juice had led him to believe, but then again, it was clear that she cared about Juice and didn't want anything she did to blow back on him. He knew Gemma would hate it, but Mia would make one hell of an Old Lady, especially for Juice. "Alright." Clay agreed, "Just wanted to clear the air."

"Consider it cleared."

"You headed over to TM now?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I should check on Zoe, she's probably upset, shit got a little loud, she probably heard some of that."

"The grandparents, they ever come here before?"

"No, today was the first time. I'm guessing they're getting frustrated that they can't find anything on me to use in court."

"Okay, look you did the right thing, calling the garage, Zoe is a part of SAMCRO and we take care of our own. They bother you again you let me know okay?"

"You got it Clay," she conceded, but she wasn't going to run to him with her family problems, she didn't like being in anyone's debt, and as nice as Clay was being to her, she had the feeling that he would eventually use it against her. She grabbed her bag from under her desk in the office and stood, "I should go, Zoe probably needs me. I'll see you at the Clubhouse, unless there was something else you needed?"

"No Sweetheart, we're good, I'll see you later."

* * *

By the time they got to the garage Zoe was sobbing uncontrollably, just as Chibs was getting out of the tow truck, Tig pulled into the lot. He sighed in relief, he may have had his own child, but he knew that Zoe needed either her Da', her Aunt, or Juice, she needed to be reassured that she was safe with them.

The second Tig saw them, he rushed over to them, "Zoe? Baby Girl what's wrong?" He asked frantically.

When she heard his voice she jumped at him, "Daddy!" she cried.

"What the hell happened?" He asked Chibs, rocking his baby girl in his arms, when the Scot told him what had happened he was in shock, he never thought that Zoe's grandparents would ever have the balls to step to Mia like that, and in public. But they had, and now Zoe was terrified it meant that she was going away. He couldn't let her think that, he couldn't let her believe that anyone could take her away from him. Dawn and Fawn were gone, as far as they were concerned he was nothing but an ATM, but Zoe, she was a fucking ray of sunshine. When she was happy, she lit up the whole room, everyone loved her, and the fact that her grandparents had taken away her smile killed him. "Come on Princess, let's go lie down, no one's taking you from me." He would kill them for upsetting his little girl.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it, please review! Next, one of SAMCRO's famous Friday night parties.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise

Mia slipped on her shoes and looked at Nita, her babysitter, "You're sure you'll be okay for the night?" she asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Zoe had been asleep by the time Mia had made it to TM, the poor girl had cried herself out of energy, and when she had finally woken up at home, she was incredibly clingy. She didn't want to let go of Mia, by the time Juice got back to Charming, Zoe was half asleep and not wanting to cause the little girl, or his girl any more stress, he headed straight to the Club.

"Everything will be fine," Nita replied, trying to sooth the younger woman, "Zoe's fast asleep, and she knows that you and Juice are going to be out tonight, if she wakes up it won't be a problem, I've had plenty of experience with children."

"Okay but-"

"If there's a problem, I'll call you. If you don't answer, I'll come to the Clubhouse, honey this isn't my first rodeo with a SAMCRO baby. I know what I'm doing. Now go to the Clubhouse, meet your man and have fun."

The horn on her car outside went off and Mia jumped in shock, "Come on Mia! Let's GO!" Harp yelled from her seat.

"You should go before your friends start waking the neighbours," Nita put her hand up to stop Mia from saying anything else, "We've talked about this, you've planned this, go and have some fun. Now!"

"All right, all right! Gees everyone's so pushy lately!" she grabbed her purse and headed out the door, "Don't forget-"

"I have all your numbers," Nita cut her off and shut the door in her face.

"Well that was rude." Mia frowned, staring at the closed door for a moment before turning around and heading to the car, where Link and Harp were both impatiently waiting. Jax had been at Mia's for most of the night that Wednesday and had spent his time getting to know the girls. He'd realised after his first talk with Juice, he didn't actually know much about Mia, and had used the fact that her two best friends were in Charming, to take the opportunity to learn more about her. So he'd invited the two women to the party, and it was going to be a good one. Happy had been in Charming for a couple of months, helping out the Mother Charter, but also so he could take care of his own Mother, who was getting sicker by the day. But he was a Nomad and his Charter needed him, so it was his going away party tonight.

The car pulled into TM's lot and Mia parked it next to Gemma's, she turned to her two friends to give them a little heads up of what to expect, "So listen, I know we've been to parties before, but a SAMCRO party is a little different. The girls walking around wearing practically nothing," she gestured to a couple who had walked past them, "They're Croweaters, basically if a guy wants one of them, they don't say no. They hope that one day one of the Patches will take a liking to them, and make them an Old Lady."

"And what's an Old Lady?" Link asked.

"An Old Lady is basically a Patch's girl she has the respect of the Croweaters and the other Patches don't mess with her."

"So you're Juice's Old Lady then?"

Mia shook her head, "No, to become an Old Lady, you have to get your man's crow tattooed on; it's like the biker equivalent of a wedding ring. I'm Juice's girl, the guys treat me with respect, they may flirt, but they don't try to push up on me. It's mostly the girls, unless I become an Old Lady then they're always going to have something to say, even then they'll always be up for trying something, they're always going to try and push up on Juice. That's life here."

"So what, you just let them be all over Juice like you don't mean anything?!" Harp asked scandalised. Mia had never been the type to let someone else be all over her man and just take it.

"Come on Harp, you know me, and so do the Croweaters, if a woman puts their hands on Juice, they better be prepared to lose them. But these girls are vicious. You're not Croweaters, your friends, and that will eat away at them, especially if you're taking attention off them."

Harp shrugged and got out of the car, "If they have a problem with it then they can take it up with us."

"She's right," Link said, following her friend out, "we'll deal with any problem those bitches throw at us."

Mia smirked, "I know, I just wanted to give you a heads up, now, let's go join the party, I'll introduce you to some of the guys." Smiling, the three walked with their arms linked towards the Clubhouse, they were going to have some real fun tonight.

* * *

Juice was at the pool table with Jax, Happy and Chibs. Now that his VP had cleared the air between them, and his girl, the younger man was back to hanging with the blond without feeling guilty or pissed off. There were two girls hanging off of Happy, one on either side of him, sitting in his lap. One with Jax and one with Chibs, (it was Happy's party after all; he should get the most attention). There was another Croweater with them; this one had her eye on Juice, she was pressed up against his side, her breasts pushed against his arm, but he was just ignoring her. Before he had Mia, this kind of attention was highly sought after, it was rare, but there were a few Croweaters that wanted him over his other brothers. He guessed it was because he was 'Sweet' as the Croweaters called him, he was less likely to push them away should they do something to get on his nerves (case and point, his still hadn't pushed away the woman trying to get his attention), they figured he would be more easy to manipulate, that they could get their claws in him and gain all the respect that they wanted from everyone else. But the Croweaters didn't understand him, no girl did, not until he met Mia at least, she got him in a way that no one else could. And when his ADD started acting up, or his OCD, she didn't call him an idiot, and demand that he get over himself. She made sure he took his medication, that he had somewhere clean and quiet to go, and she would sit with him until he felt like he could be alone, until his head stopped being so loud, and stopped trying to sabotage the best thing he had in life. It was like they were in sync, she knew when something was wrong almost before he did, she sensed it, and he knew when something just wasn't right with her, it was strange, he'd never felt anything like that with any of his other girlfriends, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

Speaking of sensing each other, despite having his back to the door, he could practically feel it when Mia entered the Clubhouse, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt her eyes hone in on him, it was time to get rid of the Croweater that couldn't take a hint, before his girl started something. Juice looked at the Croweater and held out his empty bottle to her, "Go and get me another beer." She practically beamed at him, not caring that she was only receiving the attention because he thought of her as a glorified waitress, she scurried off to grab another drink from the bar, hoping to be fast enough that another Croweater didn't take her place.

Mia made her way across the room to where she could see her man; she narrowed her eyes at the sight of the Croweater at his side, but smirked when she saw her run off. Juice must have known she was there, and didn't want anything to start in the Clubhouse. The last time a Croweater couldn't take a hint, she'd bruised her hand breaking the bitch's nose and they'd had to leave the party early she was so pissed off. She wrapped her arms around Juice's neck, and pulled herself in for a kiss, she hadn't seen him all day, he'd been out on 'Club Business' and hadn't been able to stop by to see her or Zoe. "Hey Baby," she smiled up at him as she pulled back, ignoring the glares she was receiving from the Croweaters.

"Babe," Juice returned her smile with one of his own, he looked her up and down, and made a show of licking his lips, "You look good enough to eat."

She smirked and pulled herself closer to him, standing between his legs as he sat on the pool table, "Good, that's exactly what I was going for."

His hands traversed her waist and back, before settling on her arse, but before he could pull her in for another kiss, a throat cleared from behind him. He looked up and saw Harp and Link, his girl's best friends throwing him a very unimpressed look. "Ladies," he said, not wanting to be on either of their bad sides, "you both look fantastic." They smirked at him and made their way closer to him and Mia.

Chibs and Happy straightened up, it was clear that these two weren't Croweaters, they were wearing far too many clothes to be, but they both looked hot. Happy dismissed the girls that were on his lap, motioning for them to get re-fills for the rest of the guys, he wanted one of the women standing before him. They both looked classy, but clearly they were up for a bit of fun, they wouldn't be at a SAMCRO party otherwise.

"Are you going to introduce us?" Harp asked, eyeing Happy appreciatively.

Mia rolled her eyes, she knew that as soon as Harp saw Happy, she'd want him, he was exactly her type, "Girls, this is Chibs, Happy, and you already know Jax." She gestured to the three men, "Guys, this is Link," she pointed at the red-head, who smirked at Jax, the VP couldn't take his eyes off her, "and this is Harp," she pointed at the older brunette, "we work together at _**Leverage**_ , they're also my best friends, Link is Zoe's God Mother."

"Girls, tonight is Happy's leaving party, not that SAMCRO wouldn't have thrown a party on a Friday night anyway, but Hap's heading out of town so it's a little rowdier than normal."

Harp cocked her head to the side, if he was leaving, then that meant that she could have a quick tumble with him, without that awkward morning after thing, she moved over to him and started to shamelessly flirt with the tattooed biker before the Croweaters came back, she'd set her sights on Happy and wasn't about to let a couple of whores get in the way of her having some much needed fun.

Link made her way over to Jax who promptly got rid of the Croweater hanging off of him, "Darlin' go and get the girls something to drink." He said, earning Harp, Link and Mia a glare from her, but she did as she was asked, not wanting to piss off the VP, especially when it seemed like she would get to spend the night with him.

Mia smirked, she was right about her friends causing the Croweaters problems, she knew that the guys would want them, they weren't just new meat, they were clearly different from what the guys were used to, and different would always spark the guys' interest.

"Excuse me bitch," a voice said from behind Mia, "you're in my place." Juice and Mia both turned to see the Croweater from earlier standing there with a frown on her face, carrying a beer in each hand.

Juice looked at Mia who discretely shook her head and then smiled at the Croweater, pulling away from Juice, "My bad, please," she gestured to the now empty place next to Juice and the Croweater smirked, moving to take her place.

Harp scowled at the whore who clearly didn't know who she was messing with, clenching her fists she made a move to remove the skank from the area but was stopped by Happy's hand on her arm. She looked back at him and he shook his head, motioning with his free hand to the smile on Mia's face. This was Mia's fight, no one else had the right to get involved, and if someone did, then it would take twice as long for Mia to establish herself as the HBIC when it came to Juice. Link was in a similar position, she wanted to lay this bitch out, but Jax's hold on her was firm, and he prevented her from moving over to her friend.

The Croweater put both drinks down on the pool table next to Juice, but before she could turn around to face him with her triumphant grin, Mia grabbed the back of her head with both hands and slammed her face down on the green felt of the table. Juice quickly grabbed the beers, not wanting them to topple over and watched with a smirk as the Croweater cried out in shock and pain. She fell back on the floor, her nose starting to swell, it was clear it was broken. Her face bloody, she looked up Juice with tears in her eyes, hoping that he would say something, do something, _anything_ to put Mia in her place. Instead the woman in question stalked over to her, crouching down the Croweater tried to scramble back, but she hit Harp's legs. Leaning in close, Mia whispered to her, "Juice is mine, you put your skank hands on him again, you try to take my place again, you try anything with a man that belongs to someone else again, and a broken nose will be the least of your worries." She looked up at the Croweater with Chibs and motioned to the woman on the floor, "Get her out of here, no one wants a Croweater with a busted up face, that's one third of her abilities taken away." She mocked and stood, sliding under Juice's arm, he handed her the spare beer and took a sip of his own, hoping to mask the smile that had spread across his face. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about women fighting over him that made him unbelievably turned on.

The Croweater looked up at Chibs for permission to leave, at his shrug, she helped the other woman off the floor and dragged her away. Chibs locked eyes with Juice's girl with question in his eyes, "Tha' escalated quickly, didn't it Lass?"

Mia shrugged and snuggled into Juice's side, "Bitch put her hands on my man, there was only one way this shit was going to go down. Besides it's been a rough day." Juice tightened his grip on her waist, he hadn't been able to check on Zoe after Tig had called and told him what happened at the bakery earlier that day. Needless to say, he was as pissed as Mia and Tig, but by the time he'd gotten back into town, Zoe was being put to bed, she'd tired herself out with her worrying and crying, so Juice hadn't gone over to Mia's, like he'd desperately wanted too. He didn't want to rile her up after she'd been calmed down, so, he would go over in the morning with Mia, it was his day off on Saturday, so he'd spend it with Zoe and Mia, give the little girl more reassurance that she wasn't going anywhere without her family.

"Zoe okay?" he asked quietly, not wanting distract the guys from trying to make their moves on Mia's friends.

"No, but I'll make her okay."

" _We_ will," Juice said, "You, me and Tig, we'll take care of her."

Mia smiled at him gratefully and nodded, "It's a good thing you didn't come over today, she was so clingy, she wouldn't have let you leave."

Link snorted in amusement, having heard her, " _She_ was clingy? Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one going to Nita, 'Maybe I shouldn't go', 'She needs me', 'I shouldn't leave her', 'What if she wakes up and I'm not there?'."

"Shut up Link," Mia scowled and pouted.

"The kid okay?" Happy asked, he may not have been a family man in the traditional sense of the phrase, but any member of the Sons was family to him, and deserved his loyalty until they proved otherwise, and that loyalty extended to the Sons' families. He liked Zoe, she was the first kid that wasn't afraid of him at her age, and Tig was his friend, he didn't want anything to happen her.

"She will be," Mia said, giving the Unholy One a small smile, acknowledging the fact that he cared about what happened to Zoe, and that she was grateful for it.

The conversation flowed between the seven of them for another hour and half, before Mia excused herself to get another drink from the bar. The Croweaters had been bringing them drinks regularly since she'd smashed that gash's nose in, but she wanted something else, and she didn't like asking the Croweaters for anything. She had just been handed her drink by the Prospect when someone appeared next to her and wrapped a heavy arm around her. Looking at the guy, she didn't recognise him, he was a Patched member, but obviously not SAMCRO, otherwise he wouldn't have touched her. She shoved him away from her and grabbed her drink, intent on heading straight back to Juice, but the guy grabbed her arm, clearly not happy at being rejected by what he presumed was a Croweater.

"Let me go!" she said quietly, Mia didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention from the other Patches, she could handle herself.

"I don't think so honey, you've been hanging with SAMCRO boys long enough, how's about you give a Nomad a little attention?"

"I'm not a god damn Croweater!" she exclaimed, yanking her arm from his grip, causing her drink to fall, and the glass to smash on the floor. "If you want a free fuck then there are plenty of women who will take care of you, I am not one."

"I don't think so whore!" He growled grabbing her again, stopping her from walking away, "You've been all over my brothers, and you don't have a Crow, you're fair game!"

* * *

Happy had tilted his head back to take a swig from his beer when he heard a glass smash in the Clubhouse, his eyes were automatically drawn to Mia, who appeared to be struggling with GoGo, one of his Nomad brothers, "Shit," he muttered, grabbing Juice's attention, "Juice," he pointed behind the younger man, causing him to turn in confusion.

As soon as Juice saw GoGo with his hands on Mia he saw red, slamming his drink down he rushed over to them, shoving his fist into GoGo's face, causing the older man to fall to the ground. He ripped Mia's arm out of GoGo's grasp and moved her behind him, to keep her out of the line of potential retaliation.

"Shit!" Jax exclaimed when he saw what Juice had done, fights weren't meant to happen in the Clubhouse, he headed over there before the fight got out of hand, Happy followed him, ready to pull the two apart if they continued. "Juice!" Jax exclaimed, putting himself in front of his brother, stopping him from doing any more damage to GoGo, "You want to fight him, take it to the ring!"

Juice scowled and stalked out of the Clubhouse, Mia watched him walk away with wide eyes, she never seen Juice angry like this before, she glanced back at Jax for a moment before staring at the door that Juice had just walked out of. Then she was out of the Clubhouse like a shot, following Juice because she was pretty sure he was about to take off his shirt... and beat the shit out of the guy who'd grabbed her, and because he was pissed…but mostly because she was positive he was going to take his shirt off, and a shirtless Juice was one of her absolute favourite things in the world. She found him by the ring, and had to hide her smile as she watched him take off Kutte, she was right! He looked around, locking eyes with her he gestured for her to join him. When she did, Juice handed her his Kutte, took off his tight black T-Shirt and his rings and she took them from him. The guy that he'd punched burst out the Clubhouse and headed over to the ring, there was murder in his eyes but Juice didn't care. GoGo was 12 years older than him, and not in the best shape, he wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

"I know I should probably tell you not to do this," Mia murmured, "you know I can take care of myself," Juice nodded and made to say something but she stopped him, "But I'm not going to, I get it, someone put their hands on your girl, he disrespected you. You have to fight him," she shrugged.

Juice gave her a suspicious look, "It's because I'm not wearing a shirt isn't it."

Mia's eyes widened and she glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to hear her, "Oh my God, I can't believe that you'd think that!" Pausing for a moment, trying to avoid eye contact, she finally gave in, "Fine! It's because you're shirtless, now I swear you better get in there because I'm like 30 seconds away from losing all self-control and jumping you in front of everyone!"

Juice smirked, gave her a quick kiss and hopped into the ring, "GoGo get your ass in here!" he yelled. It didn't take long for the other man to get in the ring and the fight started. GoGo threw a few punches but Juice was furious, the Nomad had put his hands on his woman, and the possessive part of him wouldn't stand for it. He was whaling on the Nomad, GoGo didn't stand a chance.

Link and Harp sidled up next to their friend, who couldn't take her eyes from Juice, "Damn," Harp said, while Link whistled in appreciation, "That is one fine man," Harp continued.

"How do you get anything done?" Link asked, curiously, unable to fully peel her eyes from the half-naked biker in the ring.

"I make him wear clothes around the house," she replied, "it sucks, but I just wouldn't let him leave the bedroom otherwise." She shrugged, watching Juice like a hawk, while he was throwing punches, she knew that he'd be very sore in the morning.

Fighting was by no means Juice's 'thing' he knew how to of course, you couldn't be a respectable Son without knowing the finer points of kicking arse, but Juice didn't do it much. He was never more at home than when he was in front of his computer, but he was holding his own in the ring. Mia figured that it had something to do with how angry he was with his Nomad brother, GoGo. He threw more punches than he took, and despite the heavy blows he did receive, it was clear that he was winning, maybe even enjoying himself a little. Mia on the other hand was torn, she didn't like seeing anyone lay their hands on Juice the way that GoGo was, but Juice was grinning like a fool and she was getting ridiculously turned on watching him fight. She just hoped that the bout ended soon so that she could take care of him.

Mia winced as she saw Juice take a particularly powerful blow to the face, but he reciprocated twice as hard and GoGo went down, in fact, it looked like he was down for the count. The crowd around the ring cheered, and then cheered even louder when Jax stepped in to raise Juice's arm in victory. Juice bounced out of the ring with a grin headed straight for Mia, "You look awfully proud of yourself," she commented.

"I beat the shit out of GoGo, and my woman can't take her eyes off of me, I've got good reason to be proud." He shrugged and pulled her in for a kiss, wincing when she brushed her mouth over his split lip.

"Oh Baby," she whispered pulling back, "Come on, let me take care of you." She grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards his dorm room.

He heard catcalls from his fellow brothers and he shot them a smirk before catching up to her, he was definitely about to get some and all his brothers knew it.

* * *

Mia woke the next day curled up in bed next to Juice, he was fast asleep and judging by the bruises on his face he was going to be sore when he woke up. So she decided to let him rest a while longer, slipping on a change of clothes she kept in Juice's dorm and headed out to the Clubhouse kitchen in search of some food and coffee. It didn't take long before the smell of sizzling bacon and hot coffee awoke others that were nearby, Tig was the first to join her in the kitchen, he dropped a kiss on her cheek, taking a plate of food from her and sitting at the bar.

Harp was next in, she was wearing a SAMCRO T-Shirt, a pair of boxers and her heels from last night, Mia looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?" Harp asked.

"Is that Happy's T-shirt?"

The hitter shrugged, "Maybe…"

"Seriously? He's leaving today!"

"Exactly, there's no awkward looks, no need for conversation, nothing, just a one and done… well it was more like a three and done, but that doesn't rhyme…"

"Harp!" Mia exclaimed looking scandalised, "I want all the details! But later, for now, grab a plate and take one to Happy." She poked her head out the kitchen door, eyes scanning the Clubhouse, calculating how many more people she would have to make breakfast for. Chibs, and Bobby were spread out with some Croweaters, and the Prospect was face down in someone's tits. Clay and Gemma had bailed on the party at around one in the morning, and Piney had headed back to his cabin at around ten, before he was too drunk off his arse to drive. Jax was obviously in his dorm room, but she had no idea where Link was, there was also of course the Nomads bunking in the spare dorms. She wasn't going to cook for the regular Patches in the Nomad Charter, but she would make breakfast for Happy's President, Quinn, he had been nothing but polite to her last night, and she wasn't about to hold the actions of one of his guys against him, he may be the Nomad President, but he couldn't control everything they did at every moment of the day. Shaking a couple of the Croweaters she didn't mind awake, she instructed them to wake the guys in question. Soon the bar was filled with hungover bikers, all waiting for their food, the guys were all eyeing Tig's plate with jealousy, the S.A.A had pulled his food towards him, shooting a glare at anyone who looked like they might try and take it from him.

Juice stumbled out of his room just as Mia had finished cooking, Mia walked out of the kitchen carrying two plates. He sat at the bar and reached out for his woman, he grabbed the plates first, putting them down before pulling her into his lap and giving her a long kiss. "Morning Babe," he smiled before digging into his breakfast.

"Hey now!" Bobby protested, "Where's our food?"

"In the kitchen," Mia replied, "you have legs, use 'em!"

"You brought Juice his breakfast!" he complained.

"Juice gave me four orgasms last night, he deserves it." She replied shutting down any further protests as the guys shot a disbelieving glance at their youngest Patch.

Juice couldn't stop the proud grin from spreading across his face, not that he really wanted to, Mia was perfect for him, even when she didn't know it, she made his life in the Club better. He couldn't help but love her…Juice froze at that stray thought, _'Well shit,'_ he thought, _'I love her…'_ his eyes traced her profile, she was eating her breakfast, oblivious to the whirlwind of thoughts going through her boyfriend's head, _'Now what do I do?'_

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading, sorry it took so long. I gave you guys a little revelation, I wasn't sure about it at first, after all Juice and Mia haven't been together long, but I figured he's the type to feel things pretty strongly, and connect with the people around him quickly. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise, from either Sons or Leverage.
> 
> Thanks so much for all your comments!
> 
> And just for your information, I just wanted to make sure the time line is clear for all of you:  
> Chapter 1 – Wendy is 1 month pregnant and Mia has just moved to Charming  
> Chapter 6 – Mia's been in town for 2 weeks and been with Juice for a week  
> Chapter 7 – Mia's been in town for three weeks  
> Chapter 9 – Mia's been in town for five weeks, been with Juice for a month and Wendy is two months pregnant  
> Chapter 11 – Mia's been in town for six weeks

 

* * *

It had been two months since Mia had moved to Charming now, and everybody was settled into a routine. Link had bought a four-bedroom house near to the hospital for her brother, while he was off performing surgeries, she was organising the upgrade of a building in San Francisco that would serve as ' _ **Leverage's**_ ' office. Harp on the other hand had chosen to purchase a nice little two-bedroom apartment (or flat as she called it) in the centre of Charming, right across from Mia's bakery. While she waited for the office in San Francisco to be ready, she'd researched the area, looking for a business or two to invest in, and she hadn't been disappointed, she'd found a place she was interested in and was in the process of negotiating a good price.

While her friends were keeping busy, Mia had begun to get bored, **_'Leverage'_** wouldn't be open for some time, and her bakery, _'_ _ **Sweet Treats**_ _'_ , was finally fully staffed, meaning that she didn't have to go in every day, just once a week to check on things and collect the earnings from the safe in the back. Zoe was thriving in day care, having moved from half days to full time, and Juice wasn't just busy at TM and with the Club, he was part owner of a Colonic Spa aka the local Weed Shop that had just opened up. She had been happy that he was branching out from the Club with his earnings; it meant that if the Club was ever running low on funds, he would be fine. But it also meant that just as she'd freed up herself, he was constantly busy, so when he finally had a couple of days off from TM, the Club and the Weed Shop, she jumped at the chance to spend some alone time with him.

It hadn't taken Mia much convincing, Juice had missed her too, sure they saw each other in the morning and when he got in at night, but he had been spread thin lately, the stress of working at the garage and the Club, coupled with everything that came with opening a new business, had caused both his OCD and ADD to flare up worse than it ever had before. And because of it, they hadn't spent much time together just being _together_ , Mia had spent her time looking after him. She bought a bunch of new games for the PlayStation for him, Juice liked playing them because it got him out of his head, he could control the characters lives on screen, in a way that he couldn't his own life, and it calmed him down. Mia understood that, or at least, understood why he needed it and had given him all the time he needed. It was things like that, that made him love her even more than he already did. So, when she'd asked him to go out of town with her, so that neither of them could be bothered by the other people in their lives, he immediately called Tig to pick up his daughter. It would be Zoe's first two-day sleepover at her dad's, but she'd come along in leaps and bounds since Mia had taken her out of the toxic environment that she'd been born into.

Once Tig had taken Zoe, Juice had packed a bag for himself, (not needing much as he was used to travelling on his bike), and Mia had packed her own, assuming that Juice wanted to take his bike, she'd packed very little for their overnight excursion. Smiling at Juice's grin, she fastened her helmet and climbed onto the back of his bike. Wrapping her arms around his waist, Juice waited until he felt that Mia was secure before speeding out of Charming, heading towards San Francisco.

* * *

Despite being in charge of the building renovations for their new office, Link was feeling a little restless in Charming, she was so used to the hustle and bustle of the city, that the small-town life she was now leading was becoming a slight issue. Don't get her wrong, she wouldn't be moving out of Charming any time soon, at least not until Harp and Mia had decided that they'd had enough of the place, but she was fairly certain that that wasn't going to happen soon. She'd seen Juice and Mia together plenty of times now, and she'd seen the looks that the younger girl gave the biker. Whether Mia knew it or not, she was in it with Juice for the long hall. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she looked over the contract she was about to sign, as a way to keep busy, she'd bought a business in Charming that was for sale, smiling to herself she thought about what the girls would say if they knew what she had done. It definitely wasn't the type of place that she would normally go for, perhaps that was why it appealed to her so much.

Signing the contract and sliding it back into her bag, she was brought back to her surroundings by the sound of a bell ringing. She was in _'_ _ **Lumpy's Diner**_ _'_ the name left a little to be desired, but despite her misgivings, the food was actually pretty good. She saw Charming's very own Prince walk into the diner. His eyes landed on her a split second after he entered, and he gave her that patented pantie dropping grin of his before sliding into the booth across from her. "Mind if I join you Darlin'?" he questioned, not exactly giving her time to answer.

Rolling her eyes, hoping that it covered the subtle flush of her cheeks, she shrugged, "Oh please, take a seat, I insist."

Jax smirked, waving over one of the waitresses and placing his order, before turning his attention back to the pretty red-head in front of him. "So Darlin'-"

"Link," she cut him off, she didn't want Charming's resident playboy getting too familiar with her, he might think he could start taking… liberties.

"Link," he said, "tell me, what is it you're doing her in Charming?" She opened her mouth to respond but Jax cut her off first, feeling the need to clarify things, "I mean, I know you're here for Mia, you guys are all partners together in your business, in _**'Leverage'**_ but what are you doing in town, while you wait for your building to be ready?"

"Oh," Link was startled, she wasn't expecting that question. "Well I mean, I'm overseeing the building works for our new office, but I don't need to be there 24/7."

"Overseeing the building work?" Jax repeated, "You didn't just rent out a building to work from?"

Link shook her head, "Well no, I mean, the offices need to be really specific for our work, so it's easier to renovate a space than just adapt to one already in place."

"So, why are you the only one overseeing the work? I mean, all three of you are going to work there aren't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm the one that is going to spend most of my time in the office, I mean, I'm the _IT Specialist_ , so I'm there more than the girls, so the office is being built to my specifications."

"Sounds like a lot of responsibility, the girls must really trust you to let you just have free reign like that," Jax remarked, smiling at the waitress who brought him his coffee and lunch.

"I guess," Link shrugged, "but it's not hard for them, I mean we practically grew up together so…" she trailed off when she realised just what she'd said, _'Shit!'_ she thought to herself, _'No wonder Mia and Harp take all the Grifter jobs, I just can't keep my damn mouth shut!'_

Jax seized on this little piece of information, realising that Link had never meant to let that slip, he prodded her before she could change the subject, "Grew up together?" he asked, "I know that Mia was in foster care for most of her life, does that mean you were too?"

Link hesitated for a moment before sighing, Jax had already managed to put two and two together, all she could do now was control what information he received on her and her friends, "Yes, I was in foster care and so was Harp for a little while, but she's English so she had to go back to the UK before she turned 18."

"That must have been hard for you, growing up with her and then having her be taken away from you." Jax concluded, he felt a little bad for pushing this, especially when he could see Link's eyes glaze over a little, lost in memory, but Mia was so closed off he could never get a straight answer from her.

"It was I guess, but as soon as Harp aged out of the foster care system she came back to America, and made sure that Mia and I always had a place to go when things got rough, she was there for us."

"So you guys must know everything about one another then."

"Well, do you know everything about Opie?" she asked, referring to Jax's very own best friend who he'd grown up with.

Jax pulled back a little at that, five years ago, the answer to that question would have been a resounding 'yes', but now, he barely knew what was going on in his brother's head, in fact, it made him kind of jealous that the girls still had a relationship as solid as the one between him and Opie used to be.

"The girls and I are family," Link said firmly, "we know what we need to know about each other."

Sensing that was the end of that discussion, Jax gave her an easy smile, "Enough about the girls, tell me about you."

* * *

Mark Sutherland stepped out of the apartment he bought for his mistress, she been his 'bit on the side' for five years now, and now by accident, he'd gotten her pregnant, at first he'd wanted her to get rid of it, fearing the scandal would ruin him. But now, with the truth about Ava out for all to know, he'd changed his mind. Ava was supposed to inherit everything from him, the house, the cars, his businesses, but it was clear that she was not one he could entrust it all to. But this new child, his own flesh and blood, this child would be a Sutherland through and through. All he had to do now, was find a way to convince his wife to accept the baby, and not ask for a divorce and activate the infidelity clause in their Pre-Nuptial agreement, because if she did, it really would ruin him.

* * *

While her husband was with his mistress, Claire Sutherland was with her P.I. not _their_ P.I, not the one that she and her husband had hired to look into Mia, no, _her_ P.I. the one she had looking into her dear husband. For months now he'd been acting…off, she didn't know why, but she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was the same feeling she got the day she'd received the phone-call from the hospital, telling her that Ava had been admitted for an overdose. The same feeling, she had just before she'd been told that Ava had signed away all her rights as a parent to Zoe. The same feeling, she had just before she'd received a call from _**'New Beginnings'**_ telling her that her daughter had just had visitors. So instead of ignoring it, like she had done the other times she had had that feeling, she called in a Private Investigator to look in to her husband.

What she'd found was far more terrible than she'd thought, she'd believed that perhaps he'd been visiting his friend Ernest Darby, she hated that racist little man, but she knew that he ran a small prostitution ring in Charming, she thought that Mark was just going to Darby to get sex. But he wasn't, he was visiting one woman, in fact, he wasn't just visiting her, he'd bought her an apartment, he'd bought her a car, he was giving her a monthly allowance! And she could only think of one reason as to why he'd do all of that for some woman he barely knew. He'd gotten her pregnant, and he was trying to keep it hidden.

She paid the investigator and waited until he left before breaking down. Her husband wasn't just cheating on her, he was in a _relationship_ with someone else, he was having a _child_ with them. It was the one thing that she'd never been able to give Mark, and she'd always hated that about herself. He'd always said that it didn't matter that she couldn't have children, but now, when faced with a child that was actually his own flesh and blood, it appeared that it did matter. Wiping a tear from her eye at the loss of her marriage, she steeled herself, if her husband wanted to mess around with some trashy whore, then she would make him pay.

* * *

Juice ran his fingers through Mia's hair, she'd just rolled off of him and was resting her head on his chest, directly over his heart so that she could hear it beat. It was quirk of hers, she liked listening to his heart, it was something she figured was left over from her foster care days. Whenever she got close to someone they were taken away from her, or she had to be moved, it got so bad when she was little that for a time, if anyone got close to her, she wouldn't even believe they existed. It was actually how she'd met Harp when she was eight, the older girl hadn't taken no for an answer when it came to Mia. In fact, in order to prove to little Mia that she was real, Harp used to have Mia feel her pulse from her wrist, and sometimes, when Mia had a really bad nightmare, she would crawl into bed next to Harp, and press her ear to the older girl's chest, just so that she could remind herself that her friend was there. It seemed like that particular quirk hadn't gone away with time.

Juice sighed as she slid her hand into his other one, "God I love you," he muttered, eyes widening and body tensing as he realised what he'd just said. He was not supposed to say that out loud.

Mia sat up, startled at his admission, her eyes met his, "What did you just say?" she asked, unable to believe that anyone would say that to her.

"I didn't say anything," he replied, hoping that she'd believe him.

"No you said something."

"No I didn't!" he replied.

Straddling him, she pinned his hands down on either side of his head, "You said you love me." Mia said, looking into his eyes.

"No, no I didn't, I don't-"

"So you don't love me?" she pulled back a little, a frown on her face.

"No that's not what I said!" Juice protested.

"So you do love me?"

"No I said I…love spending time with you…"

"No you didn't," Mia smiled, "you said you love me. You. Love. Me." She let go of his hands and sat up straight, "You love me." The way she said it now, showed nothing but confusion. "I don't understand, you love me?"

Juice sat up and sighed, deciding there was no point in protesting his words any longer, "Hey, yeah, I love you. You get me, you take care of me, you make me a better me. Why wouldn't I love you?"

"I, I don't, I've never loved anyone before, I don't know what that feels like." She saw Juice's face fall at her words and didn't want him to be hurt, "But I think about you all the time, when you're not with me I wish you were, you make me laugh, you make me smile, sometimes its like you know me better than I know myself. You know when I'm upset, or angry, and I swear it's like you have a sixth sense about me. And you're perfect with Zoe, you're just," she looked down at her hands, blushing as said the next part, "you're perfect for me." She whispered, "If- if that's what love is, then think I love you."

Juice smiled, his hand threaded through her hair and pulled her towards him and kissed her. "You love me?" he asked, "I love you."

She kissed him back, "Yeah, I love you." Before they could do anything else, a phone rang. The two split apart and reached for each of their phones.

"It's not me," Juice said as Mia grabbed hers.

"It's me," she muttered answering it, "Hello?" she stiffened and climbed off of her boyfriend, "What?!" she exclaimed, "Well, why didn't you call Tig- Mr Trager, I said he was to be the first point of call for two days?" Juice frowned as he saw her grab her pants and tug them on with one hand while the other held up the phone to her ear. "No! Don't you dare! Look-" she scowled and looked at Juice motioning for him to get dressed, "No, listen to me, you do not call the Sutherlands, I don't care how much money they donated to the school, I have a court order stating that I am Zoe's sole care giver, as far as the law is concerned I am her parent, and under no circumstances are you to call her grandparents! Now I am going to call a friend and a member of SAMCRO will be there shortly to pick Zoe up, and if they tell me that either of the Sutherlands are there, the next calls I make will be to the School Board and then the Police, do you understand me?" she waited for an answer and nodded, "good." Hanging up the phone she looked at Juice who had pulled on his jeans and T-shirt. "That was the school, apparently, Zoe got into a fight. And Tig's not picking up his phone."

"Oh shit! I'll pack up, we'll be ready to go in five."

"I'm going to kill Happy! And Tig, I hope he had a nice time with Zoe, because when I get my hands on him he's very dead."

Juice smirked and shook his head, his girl had such a temper.

* * *

Jax pulled up outside _**Charming Prep**_ in his truck, Mia had called him frantic with worry, tiny, little three-year-old Zoe had gotten into a fight at school, she was with Juice in San Francisco and Tig was on a job for the Club so he couldn't be contacted, and Mia was freaked that someone at the school would call the Sutherlands. She couldn't have them swoop in and pick Zoe up. He walked inside, showing his ID to the woman at the front desk, he was shown into the principle's office, where he saw Zoe sitting in one of the chairs pouting. Smirking he crouched down so that she could see his face, ignoring the principle for a minute. "Hey Princess."

She looked up at the sound of his voice, "Uncle Jax!" she squealed, reaching out and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"How you doing Baby Girl?" he asked, picking her up and sitting her in his lap as he sat down in a chair, before looking at the Principle. "So what's this all about?" he asked.

"Well Mr… Teller," the Principle started, looking at the biker in distaste, "Miss Sutherland here, got into a fight with one of our students."

"He called Auntie Mia a biker slut!" Zoe protested, "I don't know what that means but it sounded bad!" she cried gripping onto Jax's kutte.

"Wait, 'he?'" Jax asked, "You beat up a boy?"

"I just punched him in the mouth," she pouted.

"So let me get this straight," Jax said looking at the principle, "You let your students use that kind of inflammatory and vulgar language, and then when one of your students defends themselves against it, you punish them?"

The principle shifted uncomfortably under Jax's glare, "I am aware of Mr Dawsons… language and I will be speaking to him and his parents about that when they get here. But here at _**Charming Prep**_ we do not allow our students to involve themselves in physical violence."

"Hang on, Dawson? As in the Dawson's that work for the Hales?" Jax asked incredulously, "Isn't their kid like six? Zoe beat up a kid twice her age?!" he couldn't smother his smirk at that.

The Principle sighed, he could tell he wasn't getting anywhere with Jax, "In any case, Zoe will be suspended from school for the rest of the week. When her Aunt and her Father are back in town, I will need to speak with them about this."

Jax snorted in amusement and stood up, "Sure thing, let's go Darlin'," he hoisted Zoe on to his hip and walked out of the school. "So you beat up a guy twice your age huh?" he looked at the little girl who was staring at him with her puppy dog eyes.

"Is Auntie Mia mad at me?"

Jax shrugged, "Maybe a little, but when she hears why you did it, maybe she'll let it go."

"What about Daddy and Uncle Happy?"

"Daddy? Now your Daddy will probably buy you an ice cream, Uncle Happy too."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep, in fact, I think you deserve a treat right now, what's say you and I head to _**'Sweet Treats'**_ before Auntie Mia gets back?"

"Yeah!" she grinned as he buckled her into the truck.

Smirking Jax made his way to his side of the truck, "Tig is so dead," he muttered, climbing in and driving off.

* * *

**So here's the latest chapter. If you guys feel like I'm focusing too much on one pairing then let me know, I find it difficult to write multiple pairings, especially when one of the characters I'm writing for is my favourite, and Juice is my favourite. I always thought that if he has someone to talk to, someone who trusted him, someone he trusted, things would not have gone down the way they did in cannon.**

**So anyway, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter!**

**Please comment!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise.
> 
> So this chapter's a little shorter than the rest, but I realised with Happy being a Nomad, and me kicking him out of town, it would be a while before you guys got anymore Happy/Harp, and then this idea popped into my head and I had to write it. So hope you enjoy!  
> P.S I don't know how far the Devil's Tribe Clubhouse is from Vegas, but for the sake of this story, it's pretty close by.

 

* * *

Clay walked into the club and stopped short when he saw Zoe sitting in Jax's lap, with an ice pack covering her little left hand. Walking over to them slowly he sat down across from them, "Shouldn't you be working?" he asked.

"Someone has to watch Zoe," Jax shrugged, truth be told he didn't really feel like working all that much, not to mention he figured hanging out with Zoe was good practice for when his own kid was born. He didn't know what Wendy was having yet, but he secretly hoped that it would be a girl.

"Shouldn't she be in day care?"

"She beat up some kid." Jax replied flippantly.

"What?" Clay asked, "She beat someone up?" he pointed at Zoe who was falling asleep against Jax's chest.

"Yeah, the Dawson's kid, I'm pretty sure the receptionist said that the Princess here broke his nose."

"She's like half his age!" Clay exclaimed.

"I know," Jax smirked, "I bought her a cupcake for her troubles. But she's been suspended for the rest of the week. Tig's on Club Business and Mia and Juice are out of town for their little getaway. They're on their way back now but it'll be a couple hours with the traffic."

Clay looked down at the sleeping girl in his step-son's lap, "Go put her in Juice's bed, the Prospect will watch her. You get back to work." Clay walked off and Jax frowned, he knew what Clay said made sense, Zoe was used to being in the Clubhouse and would be fine if she woke up alone, but he was really looking forward to not doing anything that day.

* * *

It was about two hours later that Zoe woke up, her hand throbbing, the ice pack that was on it was warm. For a second, she didn't know where she was, but then she realised she was in Uncle Juice's room in the clubhouse. Rubbing her eyes she climbed out of the bed and wondered out of the room and ended up by the bar.

"Hey Princess," the Prospect called from behind the bar.

Zoe frowned, "Kip, my hand hurts."

The Prospect moved round the bar, holding a bag of ice, "Oh yeah," he crouched down in font of her "Let me see that," he held her hand and looked it over, "Jax told me about that, he said you punched out some kid."

"He was mean," she replied.

"Well then I don't think you have anything to be worried about. Now let me see, can you wiggle your fingers?" she did and he smiled at her, "I think you'll be all right, I know it hurts, but that's what happens when you punch someone in the nose. This ice," he shook the bag in front of her and place it on the back of her hand carefully, "will make you feel better. Now, I'm pretty sure your Daddy is back from his work now, so you wait right here with Chibs, and I'll go and get him."

* * *

Harp was sat at a bar in a casino in Las Vegas, she and Link were on a job that the original _'_ _ **Leverage**_ _'_ team had asked them to pull. Without Mia, the two were just on the recon aspect of the job, Link needed to get a view of the mark's vault so that Mia could break in later. Link was in the back room, watching the security feeds, monitoring any calls the mark made and keeping an eye on the law enforcement in the area. Harp was waiting on her drink, and watching the casino, waiting for the mark to appear, which is why she didn't notice when a certain biker walked in.

Happy's eagle eyes spotted her almost as soon as he entered the bar, frowning he watched her for a moment, had she followed him here? He had thought that they were cool after the night they spent together. She had seemed to understand that all he wanted was sex, in fact she seemed to be pleased with the fact that she wouldn't have to see him again. So, what the hell was she doing here?

He walked up behind her and sat on the stool next to her, startling her out of her thoughts. "Happy?!" she exclaimed when she saw him. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? What are you doing here? You following me?" he was frowning at her, he definitely wasn't pleased to see her, even if she was great in the sack.

"Hah!" she scoffed, "In your dreams Lowman, I'm working, the hell are you here for?"

Happy's eyes narrowed, "A job? You're in a bar."

"Says the guy who does his business out of a Clubhouse." Harp replied, she wasn't happy that he was here, especially when the mark could step through the entrance at any moment and she had to get access to his security card. She couldn't afford Happy distracting her.

_"I hate to ruin your conversation, but the mark is 120 seconds from the bar,"_ Link said over the comms.

Harp held up her hand to stop Happy from saying anything else, she tilted her head to the side and put her other hand up to her ear so that she could block out the noise from the bar and casino, "What? I thought his meeting was supposed to last for another ten minutes!"

_"Yeah well he finished early,"_ Link snapped, _"You've got to get his attention before he heads out for his next one."_

"What am I supposed to do? Happy's here." Link and Harp didn't trust the Sons yet and didn't want them knowing exactly what they did for a living. The man in question was watching her with curiosity, he knew that his Club didn't really knew what the women did for work, and a chance to be able to see what they were doing would give him the opportunity to give Clay and Jax some more information. Especially since neither Juice nor Tig seemed to be all that forthcoming with what they knew.

_"The mark's a real alpha male, if he sees Happy hitting on you, and you not reciprocating, he'll get involved, especially since his got his guards with him."_ Link replied.

Looking up at him Harp ran a couple of scenario's through her head before settling on one, "How would you like to earn two grand for five minutes work?" she asked and Happy looked at her interested.

"What do you need?" he asked.

She gave him a quick once over and looked over at the other Nomad that had walked into the bar with Happy, but was waiting by the entrance. "Lose the kutte and the K-bar," she gestured to the knife. "A man's going to walk in with his goons, in about 60 seconds, I want him to see you making some very 'unwelcoming' advances on me. When he comes to get rid of you, let him. I'll meet you outside in 20 minutes."

Happy gave her a look before taking off his kutte and knife, he handed it to the other Nomad and gestured for him to leave. He came back to stand in front of her just as the mark walked in. "Make it look good," Harp whispered.

Happy grabbed her drink and tossed it back so he had some alcohol on his breath, he grabbed her arm and pushed up on her like he was drunk. She put his hand on his chest and made it look like she was having trouble shoving him off of her. As predicted, the mark saw her struggling with him and rushed over to help. The man was in pretty good shape so she could see why he was confident that he'd be able to get rid of Happy, confident but stupid, she thought as he came over and his goons backed Happy off of her. Happy let the goons escort him out of the building while Harp gushed over the guy.

"Thank you so much!" she said gratefully, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't have shown up." Her hand reached out and gripped his arm, he moved in closer to her, 'comforting her' like Link had predicted. He was so distracted by her, he didn't feel her hand slide into his jacket pocket and extract his work pass. She put the pass next to her phone and waited for Link to tell her that she'd got the info off the card and she could put it back. Once she did, she flirted a little more while the mark's guards were out of the room, she fitted a button cam to his suit jacket, Link having determined that he would be going to put something in the vault later on. As his guards came back in she let him go, putting out all the signals that she thought that he was attractive and would like to see him again, and Harp smiled as he wrote down his number, with the instruction to call him just before he was whisked away by his bodyguards.

Sighing, Harp had another drink before heading outside to find Happy, when she did she winced a little, it was clear that the guards had roughed him up a little. His shirt was torn, and his jaw was bruising, his bottom lip split, Happy hadn't fought back, just as she'd asked.

_"Camera's at the front are clear,"_ Link said in her ear, _"No one will even know you're there. Clear shit with Happy and then get to my hotel, by the time you get here, I should have the security procedures ready to go over."_

"Got it," Harp muttered, before turning to Happy, "where's your friend?" she asked.

"Clubhouse," Happy replied, the Sons didn't have a Charter in Vegas, but the Devil's Tribe were friends of the Sons so it's where the Nomads laid their heads when they were in Nevada.

Harp nodded, "My hotel's round the corner, I'll pay you there."

Happy followed her to hotel without complaint, he figured that she wouldn't talk about what went down out in the open. Actually he had a feeling that when they got back to her hotel room, she still wouldn't tell him about what just happened, but he'd sure as hell try to get her to.

Ten minutes later the biker and the hitter were in Harp's hotel room, she pulled out two grand from the hotel room safe (it wouldn't stop someone like her from getting to the money, but it would stop the average person). He took it from her and tossed it on the bed, in an instant he had her slammed up against the wall, both of her wrists in his hands, up by her head so she couldn't move. "The hell was that?" he growled out.

Harp's nostrils flared in anger, he wasn't her boyfriend, he wasn't even her friend, he didn't just get to demand things from her, that's not how she worked. So, she kicked out, and before he knew it, Happy was sprawled out on the floor, Harp on top of him, a knife at his throat. "You don't get to demand anything from me!"

Happy shoved her off of him, reaching for his own knife, the K-Bar that was strapped to his thigh, it was instinct that had him defending himself against her. In a second she went from being the hot bitch he fucked his last night in Charming, to some psycho bitch with a knife at his throat, a psycho bitch that he was having trouble defending himself against. "Fuck I don't!" he ground out, "Just got my fucking ass beat!" his fist shot out and caught her in her stomach, "You're gonna fucking tell me what the fuck's going on!"

Harp doubled over when she felt his fist land a hit on her stomach, but instead of letting him pull his hand back, she grabbed it. His hand was palm up and as she jerked it up, it locked his forearm in place, lest he want to dislocate his wrist, "You got your arse beat for two grand!" she retaliated, kicking the back of his left leg so he dropped to one knee.

_"Um…Harp, is something going on?"_ Link asked, her voice coming in over the comm. She could hear odd noises in thee background, like Harp was in a fight, but the older woman hadn't said anything about the job being blown.

"Not. Now. Link." Harp gritted her teeth as she dodged a grab from the angry biker.

_"Are…are you and Happy fighting?!"_ she asked incredulously.

"I said. Not. Now!" Happy's fist flew towards her face, but she ducked out of the way, used his momentum against him and he ended up flying over the bed, and landing on his back on the floor.

_"Fine,"_ Link scowled, she knew when she was not wanted, _"you damage anything in your hotel room, I'm not paying for it!"_ Link pulled out her comm angrily and threw it next to her computer, pulling out her phone she dialled Mia, the younger woman had to be taking a break from Juice by now.

Harp pulled out her comm and tossed it next to the TV in the room, she didn't want to be distracted by Link, especially when Happy was the one attacking her, the older man may not have had the training she had, but he was extremely dangerous. Her knife was in her hand again as she quickly climbed on top of the Tacoma Killer. Happy was ready for her this time, he flipped them before she could situate herself properly. He slammed the hand that was holding the knife down on the floor, hard enough that she lost her grip, but instead of moving to attack her again. She found his lips on hers, the kiss was hard, violent and passionate all at the same time. She could feel his hard length pressed against her stomach, she guessed it was quite a turn on for Happy to be with a woman that enjoyed his rough side. Harp reciprocated, her free hand gripping onto his kutte and pulling him closer to her.

* * *

Tig was sat on the picnic bench outside the Clubhouse with Zoe, he'd made sure that Chibs checked out her hand, before taking her outside to hang out with him. When he heard from Jax that his baby daughter had gotten into a fight at school, his heart had stopped, and in less than a second every bad thing that could have possibly happened to her rushed through his head. But then Jax had said that Zoe hadn't only walked away without a scratch, she'd broken the nose of a boy twice her age he'd been ecstatic, his cute, adorable, princess was a little ass kicker! In fact, he may even start calling her that!

Chibs and Clay were sat on the picnic table, flanking the father and daughter, Zoe, who had been assured of how ridiculously proud her Daddy was, was standing on Tig's legs, regaling them with the tale of her bravery. Tig was grinning like a madman, Dawn and Fawn were nothing like him, they were the epitome of 'girlie' girls, and there was nothing wrong with that, he loved them both. But Zoe was different, she was a strong little girl, who loved motorcycles, sports and fighting, (he could tell from the sparkle in her eyes as she told him all about how she clocked the Dawson kid in the face). At three-years-old, she was so much like him and he was so unbelievably happy that she was in his life. His smile dimmed a little as heard the tell-tale sounds of Juice's bike coming down the road towards the garage.

"Baby Girl, sounds like Auntie Mia is about to arrive."

Zoe's eyes widened and her head tilted to the side as she listened for Uncle Juice's bike, she missed them both, but was afraid that Auntie Mia would be angry at her.

"Now don't worry, she's not going to yell at you," Tig said, "but this little…incident, did interrupt their holiday, so just to make sure that she doesn't get mad, when you see her, give her a big hug, those pretty puppy dog eyes and tell her your hand hurts."

"What eyes?" Zoe's little brow scrunched in mock confusion, she knew what eyes her Daddy was talking about, he was talking about her big sad eyes that she used when she wanted an extra treat from Auntie Mia's bakery, but she wasn't going to let Daddy know she knew.

"Don't lie to me, I know Uncle Juice has been teaching you that look."

Zoe gasped, how did he know?! "No he hasn't!"

"Yes he has," Tig replied.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Ye-"

"Hey Tiggy," Clay cut in, "they just pulled in." He nodded to the two people who had just taken their helmets and were now making their way over to the foursome.

Zoe scrambled off of Tig's lap, waited for the two to cross the lot, before rushing over and wrapping her arms around Mia's legs, "Auntie Mia!" she let go of the woman and moved over to Juice, "Uncle Juice!"

Juice scooped her up into his arms, "Hey Princess," he kissed her cheek as Zoe wrapped her arms around his neck.

She rested her head against Juice's shoulder, and looked over at Mia, she could see a frown forming on her Auntie Mia's face, so she widened her eyes and made them watery, "Auntie Mia my hand hurts." She gave her Aunt a sad face, her bottom lip wobbling slightly and Mia lost her angry look.

Mia moved closer to the two, and took Zoe's hand in her own, seeing the slight bruising starting to form on her niece's hand, she frowned, she didn't even think of Zoe hurting herself when she heard the kid had punched someone. "Oh Sweetie," her fingers gently ran over the back of Zoe's hand, "we should put some ice on that."

Zoe nodded, "Daddy said there's some inside."

Mia turned to her boyfriend, "Juice, can you take her inside?"

"Sure Babe," he brushed a kiss on Mia's lips and walked off with Zoe, knowing that she wanted to tear into Tig but didn't want Zoe to hear it.

* * *

When Mia was sure Zoe was out of earshot, she stormed over to Tig who was still sitting on the bench, acting like he wasn't in trouble. "Um brotha'" Chibs said, "you may wanna handle tha'"

"What's she gonna do?" Tig shrugged, showing bravado in front of his Pres and brother. Just as he finished speaking he felt a tight grip on his ear, yank him out of his seat and drag him away, "Owe! Owe! Owe! Christ woman!" he finally managed to pull back from her, "What the hell?"

Clay and Chibs were nearly wetting themselves with laughter at the sight of their S.A.A being dragged away by his ear, "I love this chick!" Clay cackled, this was some shit he couldn't wait to tell the rest of the boys, "why aren't we filming this?" he asked as they saw Mia smack the back of Tig's head, probably because he said something stupid.

"Security cams," Chibs managed to get out, before breaking down in laughter again.

"Damn it Tig!" Mia scowled, watching as he rubbed the back of his head, "I told you teaching her to fight was a bad thing! Now look, she's fucking suspended for the week!"

"Oh relax, she won, didn't she? And its only day care, it doesn't matter!"

"What if she hadn't?" Mia asked, "She punched a boy twice her age, who's probably twice as big as she is! What would have happened if he fought back? What would you have done if he'd knocked her into a desk? Or the wall? She'd be in the hospital right now, and then where would we be? And this isn't just about her getting hurt. The custody case is next month Tig!" The older man had the grace to look a little ashamed then, he'd forgotten about the case, mainly because Mia and her lawyer were handling all the details. "They could use her suspension to say that I'm an unfit guardian! That you're an unfit father!"

"Shit Mia," Tig finally spoke, "You're right, I wasn't thinking, Jesus I'm sorry, I fucked up."

"Yeah you did, now you need to be the one to make her understand that she can't do this again. Fighting's only something that should be done as a last resort and self-defence. Now I am going to go and check on my kid, and then you _are_ going to watch her for the rest of the day, while Juice and I try to salvage the rest of our day off." She spun on her heel and walked off, leaving Tig to feel worse than he had when he thought Zoe had been hurt in the fight.

* * *

Harp rolled off of Happy in her hotel room, the two had somehow managed to make it back to her bed, and she gasped for breath. They hadn't slowed down since they started and they were both exhausted. "I still want to know what that was about," Happy panted. He'd never been this tired after sex, he'd never been with anyone that could keep up with him, and could give as good as she got.

She turned her head to the side and looked at him, "You made two grand in five minutes, just accept that I'm not going to tell you anything else."

Happy frowned at her, he wanted to argue, he really did, but he was so fucking tired, he'd get it out of her tomorrow. Closing his eyes, he decided to get some sleep and think on it later.

"Oh, Happy?"

He grunted to let her know he was listening.

"I'd expect a phone call from Mia later, an _angry_ one."

He opened his eyes and turned to her, "What?"

"Zoe got into a fight at school, turns out the kid's got quite the southpaw, but Mia just about shit a brick when she heard, so you're in for it now."

"Shit," Happy muttered, this was why he didn't get involved with bitches, hell Mia wasn't even his, but he was going to have to put up with whatever she threw at him, for Tig and for Juice.

* * *

**So there was a little Harp/Happy action for you, and a little _'Leverage'_ action too. Just so you know, if any of the events in _'Leverage'_ are referred to, they won't be in sync with the real show. For example jobs pulled in season 4 may be referred to in this fic, because I figured both the shows start in the same year, I just wanted to prevent any confusion.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise, just my OCs.
> 
> This next chapter throws some drama in for you, up until now, everything's been pretty smooth sailing for the girls, so I thought I'd shake things up a bit.
> 
> Two little notes for all the Leverage fans:  
> 1\. I've worked in three quotes from the show, can you figure out what they are?  
> 2\. I've decided to open this up a little to you, if you'd like, when you post a comment, put in a quote from Leverage that you'd like me to use in the next chapter and I'll pick one and work it in!
> 
> Ok enough rambling, on with the next chapter!

 

* * *

Three days after Zoe's suspension, Mia was in Vegas with Link and Harp, everything had been set up, Link was in control of the casino's security, Harp was distracting the mark, and Mia was waiting for her cue to enter the vault. She was a little jumpy about this job, something didn't feel right, she trusted the origin, it came from the original _**'Leverage'**_ team, it came from _Parker_. Parker, the girl she'd grown up with, the woman that was considered to be one of the best thieves in the world. And she trusted Parker with everything she had, she'd found Parker on the streets once, when the girl was between foster homes, she'd taught Parker how to pick pockets, how to provide for herself when she was on her own. Parker had never been able to express her emotions, but Mia knew that the younger woman would never do anything to hurt her. But her gut was telling her something was wrong, things just fit a little too perfectly together. Don't get her wrong, she wanted the job to go smooth, but everything fell into place a little too easily. "We ready Link?"

_"Vault security will be off in twenty. Just remember the system will reset in three minutes, so be out before then."_ The Hacker replied.

"All right, just keep an eye on the casino floor, something feels off."

_"Would you relax, it's not uncommon for jobs to go well for us you know?"_

"I know, just humour me?" she asked as the alarm for the vault door switched off.

_"Fine, just hurry up, you've got 120 seconds left…"_

"How's Harp doing?" Mia asked as she took out some of her equipment and started working on opening the door.

_"How you doing Harp?"_ Link repeated to the Hitter.

_"I'm surrounded by villains, con-men and wolves in sheep's clothing, I feel right at home."_ The Hitter responded as the mark spoke to his security.

_"You hear that? She's great!"_ Link had hacked into the motion and weight sensors in the vault, but the laser sensors were on a separate grid that she couldn't get to without getting into the employee only areas, and they'd all agreed that with no one to watch her back, that was a bad idea. _"Now you're looking for the box marked…the Ace of Spades? Huh, I guess that makes sense, this being a casino and all. Anyway,"_ Link shook her head getting back on track, _"There should be 20 million in diamonds hidden in that box, oh and a Stradivarius violin, that thing's like 270 years old, be careful."_

"A Stradivarius?" Mia perked up, "I've never lifted one of those!"

_"No!"_ Link said, stopping that train of thought right away.

"But-"

_"The whole point of this is to steal from the mark without him knowing, you steal that violin and he'll notice!"_

Sighing Mia frowned, "You're no fun." Refocusing on the task at hand, Mia took 30 seconds to watch the pattern the lasers were moving in, in the vault, before she backed up and took a running start, bending, flipping, and rolling through the laser grid. By the time she'd reached safe deposit box that she needed she only had 60 seconds left. "Link, give me an update," Mia spoke as she picked the lock on the deposit box. When she didn't receive an answer she froze, "Link are you there?" she still didn't hear anything from the Hacker. "Harp ditch the mark, check on Link, she's not answering."

_"I'm already on the way,"_ Harp replied, the moment Link hadn't answered the first time, Harp found a way to ditch their target and headed to the hotel room that Link was working from.

There was a scream and a crash that came through on the comms distracted Mia enough that her elbow shifted and tripped a laser. "Shit!" she exclaimed, the alarm started blaring in the vault, and the door was closing too fast for her to get out. As soon as the door closed, and the lock re-engaged the weight and motion sensors would come back online and the security team would know exactly where in the vault she was. She was trapped, what was she going to do?

* * *

Link was in a hotel room on top of the casino, she had hired out the room under the name of a shell company, this way she was able to do her thing without being bothered by anyone, and without anyone following her to her real room afterwards. Mia had said she felt something was off with the job, but Link couldn't find anything suspicious about it, she'd done her background checks on the job, hell Hardison, from OT _**'Leverage'**_ had done all his checks too, nothing had been flagged. But her friend had sounded really worried, so she ran the security footage of the casino through her software, just to see if something jumped out. While her software was scanning the footage, Link was focused on Harp and Mia, the two of them were in the field, where all the danger was, and it was her job to make sure that nothing surprised them. It was because she was so focused on keeping her team safe, she didn't see what her software picked up until too late. Link heard a buzzing from her laptop on the side, she turned to see what had been flagged and her face drained of all colour. Staring at her from her computer screen was the face of a man she never wanted to see again. "Shit!"

The door to the hotel room burst open, and before Link could even register it, a fist slammed into the side of her face, flinging her earbud across the room, "Aah!"

"Hello Sweetheart," a voice said from above her, it was the man in the picture, along with two of his goons, "didn't think you could get away from me that easily did you?"

Before she could say anything, she felt a kick collide with her ribs and heard something crack. Link screamed in pain, she wasn't built like Harp, she wasn't made to take punishment, and she didn't know how to fight. Trying to crawl away from the three men in the room, she knew the only hope she had was to get to her ear bud, she had to let Harp know she was in trouble or she'd be dead soon. One of the goons sent another kick into her side, sending her sprawling onto her back. "Please," she gasped. She knew it wouldn't help, all her pleas did, was amuse him.

The man gave her a cruel smile, "Oh baby, we haven't even gotten started yet." He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a switchblade, "When I'm done with you, no one will be able to recognise you." He reached down but she kicked out with a frightened scream, catching him in the knee, causing him to fall. "Bitch!" he hissed.

Link scooted away from the men, grabbing the coffee table, and tipping it over and throwing at the two men that were coming after her. It hit them, distracting them long enough for her to wrap her fingers around her comm and shove it in her ear. Just as she was about to call for help she heard Harp's voice come through, saying that she was on the way, Link wanted to sigh in relief, but one of the goons in the room grabbed her foot and dragged her towards them. She screamed as her arm caught the side table holding her laptop, sending it crashing to the floor, one of the men dropped to his knees and sent a fist towards her face. She tried to remember what Harp had taught her and shifted to the side, so the man missed her face, Link brought her elbow up and caught him in the temple. Rolling away she managed to struggle to her feet before the other men could stop her, she moved as quickly as she could, adrenaline pumping now, numbing her to the pain in the side of her face and her ribs. She managed to get the couch between her and the men, hoping to get around near the door, "Stay away from me!" she cried, she picked up her busted laptop from the floor and wielded it like a weapon.

The man motioned for his guys to move one way around the couch while he went the other way, "But I spent so long searching for you Baby, we've got a lot to catch up on!" one of the men moved to grab her and she slammed the laptop across his face. He went down quick, "Grab her!" the ringleader called out. He lunged for her, blade out in front of him, she jumped back, but not fast enough. The knife sliced through her shirt, deep into her skin, cutting her diagonally from the left side of her stomach and up across her right breast. She cried out in agony as the other guy landed another blow to the side of her head, this time face connected with the corner of the upturned coffee table. The man in charge climbed on top of her prone form, dropping the switchblade on the floor next to him, he brought his hands to her neck and started squeezing. As the darkness crept into the edges of her vision, a part of Link was relieved, at least she wouldn't have to suffer for long.

Before Link could completely black out, Harp appeared in the doorway, she charged at the man on top of Link and the hacker let a faint smile creep onto her face, she would be all right now. Just as the darkness took her, and she sank into oblivion, she felt a sharp pain, looking down she saw the switchblade buried deep into her stomach, maybe she wouldn't be all right after all.

* * *

Juice, Jax, and Link's brother Caleb were having a beer at Link and Caleb's house. After it was clear that Juice was there to stay, the girls had wanted to get to know him better, and so had invited him to their weekly dinners, and of course, as Link's big brother, Caleb was there too. If Juice thought Mia's online background was scarce, then Link's was non-existent, Juice had to get his information on her and her brother the old fashioned away.

It turned out that the pair were half siblings, like Mia and Ava, the difference was Caleb grew up in a stable household from the start, in fact he didn't even know that Link existed until he was 25. By that time Link was 15 years old, and had bounced between juvie and foster homes more times than he could count, he'd wanted to take her in, but she didn't trust him. She wouldn't trust him, and to be honest, he didn't have the capabilities to take care of a teenage girl back then, he was still studying towards becoming a neurosurgeon and didn't have the money, the space, or the time to take care of someone who so obviously needed a lot of care. Instead, she had agreed to get to know him, and slowly she began to trust him, she began to open up to him, and finally, when she turned 20, they tried living together, and ever since, they'd been together. With Link's hacking skills, he'd been able to move to wherever she'd needed to go. He'd followed her all over the US. He'd met Harp and Mia, they were already part of Link's family and after a seriously long trial period, they'd accepted him into the fold.

Juice had been fascinated by Caleb's story, and not just because it gave him an insight into Link, but also because he'd never really interacted with people that had that stereotypical 'normal' life. Caleb was from a 'white-picket-fence' family, and then he went on to a profession that most parents dreamed of for their children. For all intense purposes, Caleb was the most normal, honest person that Juice knew. From that very first dinner that he'd been invited to, surprisingly the two got on like a house on fire, maybe it was because Caleb spent most of his personal time surrounded by three women and Juice was a welcome break. Or maybe it was because, unlike his brothers, Caleb took Juice seriously, he listened to the younger man, even took his advice, and as much as Juice loved his brothers, it felt nice to not be treated like an idiot all the time.

Contrary to Juice's belief however, Jax had noticed the youngest member of the Club pulling away, Juice had a girl now, and naturally would spend less time around the Club when he wasn't needed because of it. But Juice had pulled away even more, opting to spend his time with Caleb, instead of drinking, and smoking a joint with his brothers. He wanted to know what was so great about Juice's new doctor friend that it meant that he wasn't hanging with the Club, so he'd persuaded his friend to invite him over for drinks when he knew that Juice was heading over to Caleb's. (Even if he didn't like that Juice was hanging with Caleb instead of the Club, it would be a good idea to befriend an actual doctor, just in case they needed one).

As much as Jax didn't want to, he found he actually liked Caleb, the guy was smart, funny, down to earth, and clearly didn't mind a little questionably moral conduct given that he was hanging around with Juice, who was clearly smoking a joint at that very moment. He couldn't help but enjoy his night with Link's brother, it had given him insight into the beautiful woman that had captivated him from the moment he'd laid eyes on her. She was the first woman since Tara who'd made him feel that spark, one he hadn't felt since high-school. Tara was gone, and she wasn't coming back, for the first time since she'd left him, he felt truly interested in another woman. (His crazy ex-wife didn't count, he'd met Wendy during a dark period of his life, he was high and drunk for most of his time with her, he was definitely drunk when he'd married her). This time around though, he was fully in charge of all his faculties, and couldn't help but be drawn to the sexy red-head.

Juice smirked as he saw the way Jax had relaxed around Caleb, the older man had an air about him that just made people want to be his friend. Juice had figured that his VP wouldn't be too happy now that he was hanging at the Clubhouse less, between the Weed Shop, spending time with Mia, Zoe and even Tig, adding in a new friend to schedule meant that his free time at the Clubhouse was cut down by 50%. Gemma had been making snide comments about it already, but now he was hearing the occasional comment from Bobby, Chibs, hell even Piney had said something to him about it. Two months ago Juice would have been upset at the comments, and panicked at the thought that his brothers thought he was pulling away from them, but with Mia around he was gaining more confidence every day. Bobby spent a lot of time performing as Elvis, away from the Club, Piney spent most days holed up in his cabin, hell Opie had only been to the Club five times since getting out of prison, Juice thought he deserved to have a life that didn't revolve around the Club completely. That didn't mean that he loved the Club or his brothers any less, it just meant that he was growing as a person, and he didn't think that his brothers were used to it.

"So Juice," Caleb said, resting his beer on the table, "when are you planning on moving in with Mia?"

The question caught Juice off guard, and unfortunately he was taking a sip of his own beer when it happened. Choking on the alcohol, Juice coughed until his throat was clear, "What?" he asked, his voice an octave higher than he'd meant it to be, clearly freaking out at the question.

Jax laughed along with Caleb, Juice had never lived with a girlfriend before, and he'd made it clear to his brothers long ago, that wasn't something that was in the cards for him.

"Why uh? Why do you ask?"

"Well," Caleb gave Jax a smirk before turning back to Juice, "You've been together for a month now, and the only time that you go back to your place is to swap out clothes, or to play on your Xbox, I know Mia's a PlayStation girl."

"Well, uh- I mean-" Juice stuttered.

"Yeah Juice, you're just paying rent for no reason," Jax joined in now, Juice couldn't hide it, he was visibly freaking out.

"What? We, I uh, we haven't- Jax likes Link!" he finally said, throwing his VP under the bus in an attempt to divert attention from himself.

"What?!" Jax exclaimed, not expecting those words to come out of Juice's mouth.

"WHAT?!" Caleb was much more forceful, his jovial expression turning into a glare and focusing in Jax.

"What? I don't!" Jax denied, "I would never-"

"So you're saying my sister's not good enough for you?" Caleb demanded.

"Wh- no she's, she's beautiful!"

"So you only like my sister for her looks then?"

"No!" Jax was panicking, he'd never in all his life, been confronted by an angry big brother, (a few angry father's maybe), as Charming's Prince, guys were more than happy for Jax to bang their sisters with the hopes that it would get them close to the Club. "She's gorgeous, I would just never-"

"What is she too smart for you? You don't like a girl with a brain in her head?"

"That's not what I meant, I mean I would..."

"You're saying you'd sleep with my sister?!"

"I- uh- wh- you- I-"

Caleb suddenly smiled, "Relax dude, I'm just fucking with you. I'm going to get another beer, want one?" He looked over at Juice who was in his chair, holding his stomach and laughing so hard that he was pretty sure the younger man couldn't breathe, "Just me then? Okay." He walked into the kitchen, leaving a stunned Jax and a hysterical Juice in his wake.

"What just happened?" Jax finally asked, he'd never felt so insecure in his life

Juice coughed and sat up straight, wiping a stray tear from his eye, "Man," he said, clearing his throat, "now you know how I felt!"

Before Jax could reply, Caleb came out of the kitchen, a terrified look on his face, he'd just received a call from Harp, a call he'd wished that he'd never have to get.

"Caleb?" Juice asked as he watched the doctor head straight towards his study, the two bikers followed him, instantly calm at the look on Caleb's face, "What is it?"

"Um," he looked up at the two, "that was Harp, something went wrong on the job."

"What?" Juice asked, more alert now, "Caleb!" he stopped the man from going through his draws. "What happened?"

"I don't really know, someone broke into Link's hotel room and attacked her while the girls were on the job, I have to go." He turned back to his desk and grabbed his passport.

"Wh- what about Mia?" Juice asked, but Caleb just ignored him, grabbing his wallet, "Caleb! You said Harp and Link, what happened to Mia?"

"I don't know, look Link's in the hospital and don't know how bad it is, Harp said she's still in the vault, I didn't really ask Juice!"

"Juice chill, Mia's fine, Link's hurt."

"Mia's not fine Jax, that vault is vacuum sealed, there's only four hours of air in that thing!" (He may have sneaked a peak at the vault schematics while Mia was going over them.)

"Alright everybody just needs to calm down," Jax finally said, putting on his 'leader voice' "Caleb, go upstairs and pack a bag, I'll call the Prospect to drive you to the airport," when Caleb moved to protest, Jax held up a hand, "You've been drinking and you're worried, Link'd kill you if she knew you were driving under the influence, now go." Caleb nodded and rushed upstairs.

"Juice, we're going to the Clubhouse, we've got to arrange for someone to watch Zoe first, then I'll go with you to Vegas."

Juice shook his head, "Jax."

"Listen to me," Jax said, "I don't know what vault you're talking about, or what 'job' the girls are on, but I know you're freaked, we'll talk about what's going on later but right now we're going to let the guys know what's going on, then we're going to Vegas to find out what the hell is happening. OK?"

Juice nodded, "Okay."

* * *

Harp was sat in the hospital waiting room, Link had been rushed into surgery and no one had come out to tell her what was going on. She was startled out of her thoughts when Mia just appeared in front of her, "I called Quinn, he's in the area and on the way."

"How'd you get out of that vault?" Harp asked.

**FLASHBACK**   
_  
Mia looked around the vault, the door was sealed shut and the door couldn't be opened from the inside. She had about 60 seconds before the cameras came back online and 90 seconds before the room would be flooded with security. She wasn't about to go to prison for stealing from the scum of the Earth. Her eyes zeroed in on the locker marked with the symbol of the King of Diamonds, it was close to the vault door and big enough for her to fit in, she just had to hope that she could open it in time, and that it wasn't full. Rushing over to the other side of the vault, she whipped out her lock picks and started on the locker, thankfully, it swung open in seconds, there were items in it, but she could squeeze in. Sliding in she closed the door behind her and held it shut. Just in time as well, as she heard the vault door unseal and several people walk in. She had to get out of there fast, they'd start checking every corner of the vault and eventually they'd figure out the locker she was in was open. She pulled out a couple of pellets from her pocket and got ready to throw them out into the vault, Link had made them, one was designed to fill the room with smoke, while the other would let out a noxious gas that would knock out the guards._

**FLASHBACK within FLASHBACK**

_**"So take these with you," Link said, handing them to Mia, "If you get trapped anywhere with no way out they should help."** _

**"What are they?" Mia asked, looking at the pellets in her hand.**

**"You throw them on the floor and they go off, one fills the room with smoke, while the other will knock people out, make sure wear this mask before you use them." She said as an afterthought, "I designed them myself, when they go off, they'll disappear when the chemicals react so we don't have to worry about them being traceable."**

**"These things are safe right?" Mia asked a little sceptically.**

**"Of course they're safe, it's just you know…if you experience nausea, weakness in your right side, stroke, strokiness…"**

**Mia scowled, "You're precisely why I like working alone."**

**FLASHBACK**

_Mia shook herself out of her thoughts and pulled on her mask, as she heard the last set of footsteps pass her locker she tossed the pellets out and waited ten seconds before running out of the vault._

**END FLASHBACK**

Mia yanked herself from her memories and shrugged at Harp, "You know me, how's she doing?"

"No one's been out yet, I don't think that's good." Harp frowned, she was the Hitter, she was meant to take the hits so the others didn't have to, it was her job to keep her team safe and she couldn't stop what had happened to Link.

"Hey," Mia sat down next to Harp, taking her hand, "This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is," Harp replied, "I'm supposed to look after you guys, instead I was on the Casino floor flirting while Link was being attacked, and then you had to escape security by yourself, I didn't do my job."

"Look, we were set up ok, that much is clear, someone sent that job to _**'Leverage'**_ knowing we'd take it, someone specifically looking for Link, you can't blame yourself, all we can do, is find out who this was."

Harp nodded, "Do we have anything on this guy?"

Mia shook her head, "Link's laptop's busted, it looks like she used it on one of those guys, but I'll send it out Hardison tomorrow, get him to put it back together, I've got him analysing footage from around the casino and hotel to see if anyone pops up. We'll find this guy."

"When we do, I'll kill him Mia." Harp was serious, hurting people was her job, and she was no stranger to a little wet work, this however would be much more satisfying than killing some random dictator at the behest of the government. Whoever this man was, he'd hurt someone she loved, he didn't get to walk away from that.

"Okay," Mia nodded, "We find him, _together_ , and then you can kill him."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the latest chapter for you guys! Hope you enjoyed it. Please drop me a comment! Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.
> 
> Thanks so much for all your comments and the kudos!

The first person that arrived at the hospital was Quinn, Mia had called him the moment she'd gotten out of the casino. He was a Hitter, like Harp, one of the best in the world in fact, and he was her friend, she'd met him when she was 18, the two of them were after the same thing, but for different buyers, she'd managed to get the item, but he'd been pissed, he'd come after her but when he realised that she was only 18, he'd been impressed. They'd clashed a few times on other jobs, but over time the two had connected. So when she found out that Link had been attacked by an unknown assailant, one that had gotten away because in that moment Harp had been preoccupied with saving her friend's life, she called the Hitter. Link would need a guard while in hospital and Mia had correctly guessed that Harp was in no shape to do that, and hunt for the one who had hurt their Hacker.

Caleb was the next to arrive, having taken flight from San Francisco, he arrived ten hours before Juice and Jax, he knew the guys were on their way, but they had to drive from Charming. He rushed into the waiting room, where the girls had been waiting for four hours, they'd received no information from the doctors, other than Link was still in surgery. But Mia had asked Quinn to go in to make sure that she was safe from another attack, he'd thrown on some hospital scrubs and was now waiting directly outside the doors of the Operating Theatre where Mia was getting her surgery.

As soon as Caleb got to the hospital, he managed to talk them into letting him into the Operating Theatre as long as he didn't get involved in the surgery. He sent Quinn back to the girls, confident that no one would be coming for Link now, not with all the cameras and doctors and nurses around. "Hey," Quinn said, sitting down next to Mia, "How you holding up?"

"My best friend was attacked by someone who knows who we are, how we operate and used it against us. She may die, Harp can't focus on anything but finding this guy and killing him," she pointed to the woman who had yet to get off the phone, "and I have no idea what to do. My Hacker's out, my Hitter's broken, and OT _**'Leverage'**_ has clearly been breached because this guy used _them_ to get to _us_. How do you think I'm feeling Quinn?"

"Hey," he pulled her towards him and enveloped her in his arms, "it'll be okay, Link is going to be fine, she's got the best doctors working on her, and I am here, for as long as you need me."

"Really?" she asked.

"What are friend's for?"

* * *

Jax and Juice sat outside the hospital in Vegas on their bikes. Neither of them had made a move to go in yet, mostly because Jax was still trying to process what Juice had told him about the girls. "So, they're thieves?" Jax asked.

"No! They help people, you know, when they don't have any other option, they go in and they stop the bad guys."

"So, they're Robin Hood?" Jax asked.

"Exactly!" Juice said excited that Jax was getting him.

"Juice, Robin Hood was a thief."

"Oh," Juice frowned "right, I guess they're thieves then."

"We should probably go in now, I mean the girls have been in there for like 12 hours now, they probably haven't eaten, changed, slept…"

"Right, you're right, let's go in," they moved towards the hospital but Juice grabbed his arm, "hang on, they're not going to tell us where she is."

"What do you want to do?" Jax asked.

Juice moved back to his bike and pulled out a small laptop from his saddle bag, "Just give me a couple of minutes." He switched on his laptop and started typing.

"What are you doing?" Jax moved over to his brother and stood behind him, watching as the hospital's logo appeared on the screen. "Are, are you hacking the hospital? Since when could you do that?"

Juice looked up at Jax for just a moment before turning his attention back to the screen, "Link and I have been hanging a little," Juice shrugged. "Ok she's still in surgery, and has been for the last 12 hours, the waiting room for that is on the fifth floor, it's probably where the girls are." Juice closed his laptop and headed inside, ignoring Jax's look of incredulity. Jax watched as Juice walked away from him, he knew Juice was good with computers, but it seemed as though his brother had come along in leaps and bounds in less than a month. He had no idea that Juice was such a quick learner, he also had no idea that he would be so unsettled by the thought that he and Link had been hanging out.

* * *

Juice and Jax stepped out of the elevator on the fifth floor of the hospital, they rushed towards the waiting area and Juice stopped short before he walked into the room. Mia was there, fast asleep, her head in some guy's lap. The guy had curled blond hair, even though he was sat down he looked like he had twice Juice's muscle, and he looked as though he was very familiar with his girlfriend, running his fingers through her hair as she slept.

"Um, is that your girlfriend, in some dude's lap?" Jax asked.

"Yes," Juice replied.

"And you're okay with this?"

"I trust her."

"I'm just saying, dude-"

"I said I trust her Jax!" Juice cut him off and walked into the waiting room.

Quinn's hand stilled in Mia's hair and looked up at the person casting a shadow over him, "Can I help you?" Quinn asked the mohawked biker before him.

Juice's eyes bounced from Mia to the man holding her, "Who the hell are you?" Juice asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Quinn's eyes slid from the biker in front of him to the blond one that was joining him and tensed up. He didn't want to wake Mia up, she'd only fallen asleep an hour ago, but for all he knew, these guys were more of the people that had attacked Link. From the second they had walked into the room, he'd clocked the Ka-Bars and the guns that each had hidden on their person. "After all, you're the one looking at me like I stole something from you."

"That's my girl in your lap there," Juice replied simply, he wasn't stupid, he knew that if he and this guy fought, it would not go the same way it had with GoGo, this guy was dangerous, he could tell.

Quinn scoffed at that, the idea that Mia would date a biker, let alone one with such a stupid haircut and ridiculous scalp tattoos made him laugh, he knew her better than that, "Right, sure, she's dating you."

Juice frowned, dangerous or not, this guy was a real arsehole, and he wasn't about to back down. He felt Jax step up next to him, showing the guy in front of him that he was not alone.

Harp walked back to the waiting area from the bathroom, she was waiting for Mia to wake up so that they could go back to their hotel room and shower and change when she saw the standoff happening in the Waiting Room while Mia was fast asleep, completely oblivious, "Juice!" she called, "Jax," walking up to the three men she turned to Quinn. "Quinn this is Jax, a friend of ours, and Juice," she pointed at the mohawked biker, "he's Mia's boyfriend."

Quinn frowned as he looked back at Juice, deeming neither of the bikers a threat to him, "Seriously?" he asked, "Him? You're kidding right? They're not dating." Quinn couldn't believe it, he'd known Mia for six years, she had far better taste than some biker trash that treated women like they were pieces of property. She'd never let anyone treat her like that.

Sighing, Harp held up a hand to prevent Juice from snapping at the Hitter, "Actually I'm not, they've been together for over a month now, back off Quinn, she'll be pissed if you start a fight now." She turned to the bikers, "Juice, Jax, this is Quinn, he's known Mia since she was 18, they're… friends. She called him for back up, we still don't know who attacked Link, or why."

Jax frowned as he looked at Harp, now ignoring the drama between the other three in the room, "But she was targeted? Right? If the objective was the team then why only hit one person? They obviously knew where you guys were."

"Yeah, she was targeted, whoever he was, he said some things, we managed to catch some stuff over the comms, but not much. And she never said his name. We think that she may have identified him on her facial recognition software, but the computer's trashed."

Juice looked away from Mia at that, and over to the other two, "What happened to it?"

"Looks like she used it to bust one of her attackers open, it's smashed up pretty good, and covered in blood."

"Do you still have her equipment?"

Harp frowned and shook her head, "No, I managed to grab her laptop before the cops swooped in and cordoned off the area, all her stuff is in evidence lock up."

Juice bit his lip and glanced back at his sleeping girlfriend, before squaring his shoulder's, "If we can get her equipment back, I can take a look at rebuilding the hard-drive on the laptop. Maybe pull some information off of it."

Quinn chose that moment to interrupt, this guy thought that he could do what Link did? He was no Hacker, "There's no way you can do that, even if you could re-build it, you wouldn't get past Link's firewall."

Juice scowled at Quinn, that guy was really starting to piss him off, it hadn't escaped his notice that the older man and resumed running his fingers through Mia's hair, "I'm not as good as Link, no, but I'm a Hacker, besides, she's been teaching me a thing or two."

"Guys, none of this matters, if we can't get that stuff back," Jax cut in, he didn't want this to escalate to an actual fight, not when he knew that they'd all be kicked out, leaving Link vulnerable, not to mention Juice would totally get his arse kicked.

Juice gave Harp a look, after hearing a story or two from Mia he knew that there was no one better to do this, when Harp nodded he gently shook his girl awake. Mia's eyes fluttered open and locked with Juice's, "Juice?" she whispered confused, Juice was in Charming and when Mia fell asleep she was definitely in Vegas. "Juice!" she was more awake now and shot up, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered and Juice's worried visage gave way to a soft smile.

"Me too Baby, I'm here right here," he reciprocated the hug, holding her to him.

Harp gave the two a moment before interrupting, "Mia, hey Mia!" the younger girl turned to the Hitter with question in her eyes. "Mia," she spoke quietly now, there was no one else in the room, but she didn't want a passer-by to overhear, "have you ever broken into Police Evidence Lockup before?"

Mia's worried frown slowly turned into a smile, if there was anything that could take her mind off of a bad situation, it was a bit of theft. "This should be fun."

* * *

Juice, Mia and Quinn were outside the Police Station, Juice was sat in the car with them both, and Mia handed them comms so that they could stay in contact the whole time. "Evidence Lockup is around the back of the building," Juice said. "There's one guy out front, logging shit in and out, and the cage itself is sealed electronically."

"What's the ventilation system look like?" Mia asked, waiting for Juice to pull up the blue prints on his laptop. After perusing them for a few minutes she nodded, having come up with a rough plan, "Okay, I can get in through the vents, but I'll have to go in through here," she pointed at a place on the blue prints near on the opposite side of the station.

"That's near the drunk tank," Quinn commented, causing the other two to look at him in question. "What? Like neither of you have ever gotten drunk in Vegas," he scoffed.

Ignoring him, Mia straightened up, "Right, Juice, you stay here, keep an eye on things. Quinn you're with me."

"What are you thinking?" Quinn asked.

Mia stepped out of the car and gave them both a smirk, "We're gonna need some handcuffs."

Quinn returned her smirk and followed her out of the vehicle, leaving Juice alone in the car. The biker grit his teeth in anger, he trusted Mia completely, but was really starting to dislike Quinn, shaking his head, he turned his attention back to his laptop, making sure that everything was set up for his girlfriend. He certainly didn't want her to get caught robbing Evidence Lockup.

Mia and Quinn walked past two officers and as they turned the corner Mia produced a badge and a pair of handcuffs from behind her back. When it came to lifts she was the best he'd ever seen, "I love it when you do that," Quinn commented, causing Juice to scowl on the other end of the comms.

Mia smiled and handed him the items, "You know what to do?" she asked.

"It's not the first time I've slapped a pair of handcuffs on you," the Hitter smirked, locking her hands behind her back.

_"What?!"_ Juice exclaimed, hacking into the surveillance system in the precinct.

"Nothing!" Mia exclaimed, that really sounded a lot worse than it actually was, "Damn it Quinn!"

"What?" the older man smirked and shrugged off her glare, he didn't like the fact that Mia was so invested in the mohawked biker, he thought she could do so much better, and was planning on making that clear to Juice.

"Shut up and put the handcuffs on me!" she exclaimed.

"I love it when you beg," Quinn quipped, receiving an elbow to the stomach for his troubles.

Juice's eyes narrowed and he ground his jaw, but he didn't say anything, it was official he hated Quinn, but saying or doing something rash now, was just what the older man wanted. Juice knew that Quinn didn't like him, in fact he was pretty sure that Quinn was going to do everything he could to cause problems between him and Mia. And honestly, he didn't know what to do with that, how to deal with it, and how to approach Mia about it.

A few minutes late it appeared as though Quinn was done having fun as he and Mia walked into the Police Station, he'd gone from joking with her to looking like a serious cop, and Mia was acting like a aggravated drunk as was the plan. Quinn took Mia towards the Drunk Tank but the both of them ducked into a small supply closet to get out of the line of sight of the police in the area, there was only a couple of inches of space between the two. Quinn's face only centimetres away from Mia's, "Well this reminds me of old times," he whispered, staring down at her, "stuck in a small space, pressed up against each other, waiting for the opportunity to get run away from the cops."

Mia's eyes narrowed, she wasn't sure what Quinn was doing, but she knew that _that_ was going to piss her boyfriend off for sure, "Well there's a few differences now, compared to then. One, I'm not trapped," she held up the handcuffs that had moments ago been around her wrists. "Two, we're not pressed up against each other," Quinn snatched the cuffs from her hand and replaced them on his belt. "And three, I'm not running from anyone." And with that, she used Quinn as a stepping stool to reach the vent on the ceiling, shoving it open she crawled in and started to head towards evidence lock up. "You should probably get out of here before that cop notices his missing badge," she said as she left the area.

* * *

Meanwhile Juice was outside, trying no to blow up at what he'd just heard, he was concentrating on keeping the LVPD cameras on a loop, but it was getting pretty difficult for him. The angrier he got at Quinn, the harder it was for him to concentrate and he needed to concentrate right now. His girlfriend, the woman he loved, wasn't just surrounded by cops, she was in an actual Police Station, about to steal from Evidence Lockup, and he knew that it was his idea, he had faith in Mia, but the idea that because of him, because he couldn't keep it together, would mean that she would get taken away from him, scared him shitless.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath he tried to keep his shit together, his brain was starting to get loud, and when that happened he usually smoked a joint to calm himself down, but the back parking-lot of the Police Station was not the best place to do that. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag, he hoped that it would be enough for him short term. Juice turned back to his laptop and ran his programme through the Police's internal system again, with Link's help, Juice had designed a programme that, if discovered, made a hack look like it wasn't just coming from a completely different location, but also hid the hacker's signature code, making to look like it was a different hacker. It was a pretty ingenious programme, (Link had said so herself), but he hadn't quite worked out the bugs, which meant that it manually had to be re-run every ten minutes to keep going.

He was focussing so hard on the computer, that he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone rapped on the driver's side window. His eyes shot up and he saw Quinn, scowling he unlocked the door and the Hitter sat in the driver's seat, "Shouldn't you be inside in case Mia needs you?" Juice asked, he really didn't want the older man anywhere near him, especially when he was trying to concentrate.

Quinn scoffed, "I see you haven't been on a heist with our girl yet then," causing Juice to bristle at the term 'our girl', "When it comes to stealing, Mia likes working alone, if she needs help she'll ask for it, and then I'll go in."

"Go in and what? Beat up all the cops in a _Police Station_? That's a solid plan."

Before Quinn could retort, Mia cut in _"Guys, I hate to interrupt whatever this pissing contest is, but I'm about to break into a secure lockup, surrounded by police, with the distinct possibility that whoever attacked Link is also here trying to get to her equipment, so I'd really appreciate it if I could concentrate!"_

Juice winced at the venom in Mia's voice, she clearly was not in the mood to put up with any shit today, "Sorry Babe," he muttered switching is comm to 'receive only' so she wouldn't hear anything else he said unless he wanted her to. Unfortunately he noticed Quinn do the same, it looked like the older man had something to say, and Juice bet that he wouldn't like it.

* * *

Jax walked to the private wing of the hospital in Vegas, while Link was undergoing surgery, Harp had flashed enough cash to get her friend the VIP treatment. Harp was guarding Link's door, she found it difficult to look at the younger woman, unconscious and helpless, without feeling guilty about not being able to protect her. So instead she decided to keep her eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Jax nodded at her and walked into Link's room, Caleb was slumped in the chair next to her, he moved over to the older man, "Hey man," he whispered, Link was still down for the count and he didn't want to disturb her.

Caleb looked up at the sound of his voice, "Jax, are they back yet?" Caleb had been told about the plan for Mia, Juice and Quinn to get Link's hardware out of lock up. He thought it was stupid and reckless, especially with someone out there with the resources and skills to find them, and get to them before they even knew he was coming. But Link was his baby sister, and anything that could be done to find the dead-man that had hurt her, he wouldn't stop.

Jax shook his head, "Not yet, look man, you've been in surgery with her for eight hours and before that you'd just come off a shift at the hospital, you need some rest."

"I'm not leaving her," Caleb replied.

Jax didn't blame him, if it was Opie in the hospital, or his mum, he wouldn't leave their side except to kill the one that had put them there, so he understood Caleb's turmoil.

"I'm not telling you to leave, just go to the cafeteria and get something to eat, I asked one of the nurses to bring in a cot so that you can sleep here, I'll be here while you're grabbing food. I won't leave her side." At Caleb's look he continued, "I swear. Besides, nothing's getting through Harp and you know it."

Caleb sighed and nodded, "I'll be back in ten minutes," he said before heading out of the room, leaving Jax alone with Link.

The biker took a seat in the recently vacated chair and stared at the unconscious woman before him, he and Link had been getting to know each other, talking, getting closer, she was different from the rest of the women at home and he found that… _charming_. In fact, he believed that she was starting to trust him, just a little, not enough to tell him her real name, (or her actual occupation), but she would talk to him about her past. Tell little stories about her time with the girls, it gave him a better insight into the woman who his brother was in love with, and it gave him a better insight into her. He was starting to make real headway with Link, which is why when Caleb got the call that she'd been attacked, he was already thinking of excuses to tell Clay so that he could come to Vegas. He was just lucky they had such a friendly charter nearby, and that Juice was going with him, Vegas was primarily Mayan territory and his mother would shit a brick if she thought that he was heading into Vegas without someone watching his back.

He had no idea who hurt Link, but he knew that as soon as he found out, there was no way Harp was getting to this guy without his help, he was pretty sure Juice would help too. And there was a revelation that he couldn't believe Juice had been keeping from the Club. Link was helping him to improve his hacking ability, and while he already had the skills to hack into the Sheriff's Department in Charming to change a few records, hacking into Vegas PD, putting their camera's on loop, making it look like evidence that had been there had never been booked in in the first place, those were some serious skills he was developing. And it made Jax wonder what else Juice was hiding, clearing the Puerto Rican already knew about what his girl and their friends did for a living. He wasn't surprised, when he heard that the job had gone south and Mia was locked in a vault, _a vault_ , Mia had skills he didn't even know about, skills that would probably benefit the Club and Juice hadn't said a word. And if Juice knew, did Tig? Sighing, Jax rubbed his hand over his face, he was going to have to have a serious talk with both of his brothers, this wasn't the kind of thing that you kept from the Club. He was so lost in thought he didn't realise that Link was waking up, until her eyes actually opened.

Link blinked her eyes a couple of times, the lights wherever she was, were pretty dim, but her vision was blurry, _'Where am I?'_ she thought to herself, _'What happened?'_ at that thought, it all came rushing back to her, her computer programme, the sound of _his_ voice, the feel of the blade as it pierced through layers of flesh and muscle as it sank into her stomach. At that she gasped in fright, afraid that she was with _him_ again.

"Hey," Jax said quietly, getting up and moving into her line of sight, his hands slowly grasped her arms and stilled her, "Hey it's me, Link? Can you hear me?" Link gave a jerky little nod and Jax gave her a soft smile in return, hoping to ease some of her panic. "Good, alright, you can't get up just yet, you've just had major surgery, your stomach's all stitched up and no one wants you tearing those stitches okay?"

"Oh-" Link cut herself off, her voice was scratchy and her throat was dry. Grabbing a glass, Jax poured some water and put a straw in it so she could drink more easily. "Where am I?"

"At the hospital in Vegas, it was pretty bad Link, Harp had you brought here in an ambulance."

"Harp!" Link exclaimed, "Mia! Where are they?" she was suddenly very worried, without a hacker the girls had been left high and dry and they could have been caught.

"Relax, they're fine, they're safe," he said soothing her, conveniently forgetting about the fact that Mia was now in an incredibly dangerous situation, just to make sure that no one could pin anything on them. "Harp's just outside, do you want me to get her?"

Link nodded, but tugged on Jax's hand before he could leave, "Caleb?" she asked.

Jax nodded in understanding, "He's here, I just sent him down to get some food, he's been sat here the whole time, just waiting on you to wake up. Now I'm going to get Harp, I'm going to be right outside this door okay Darlin'?"

When she nodded, Jax sauntered out of the room, Harp rushing in moments later, "Link," she gasped in relief, she sped over to Link's bed, wrapping her arms around the younger girl. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

"Harp, it's not your fault. The guy just caught me off guard."

"Caught you off guard?" Harp exclaimed, "You know who it was," she finished.

Link shook her head, "I can't-"

"I need to know who this guy is, I have to get rid of him," she hissed.

Link sighed, "I don't want to tell you _now_ , I want to get rid of him, it should be my choice. And I don't want to go through this story more than once, so we'll wait on Mia… Where is she by the way?"

* * *

Zoe wasn't due back at Day Care until next week, as a result she had spent the past two days at TM, Tig had the next day off and would spend it with her, but with Juice and Jax rushing off to Vegas, the Garage was short-handed, he couldn't just not turn up. Instead, the Prospect had spent his time following the three-year-old around TM to make sure that she didn't get hurt. At the moment she was sitting on the ground next to Tig, who was making a few adjustments to his bike. He'd call out a tool, and the Prospect would hand it to Zoe who in turn would give it to her dad. Gemma thought it was adorable, Zoe next to her father learning all about motorcycles, it reminded her of a simpler time, when Jax was young and her first husband John was alive, he'd do the same thing. Sit with his daddy while John worked on cars and bikes at TM. It also helped that Mia wasn't there, so Gemma grabbed her camera from the office to snap a few pictures, she would get the photos developed and framed so that she could hang them at Tig's place. The S.A.A needed a woman's touch at his place, it had been a couple of months and his guest room was still just that, a guest room that had nothing but a bed and set of drawers in. If he wanted Zoe to stay over at his place, then he needed to turn his spare room into a paradise for the little girl, Gemma had seen Zoe's room at Mia's place and she would be damned if the fact that Zoe's room at her Aunt's was the reason she didn't spend as much time with her father as possible.

Tig was just finishing up on his bike when he heard a car pull into the lot, standing up, he picked Zoe up, his eyes hardening as he realised he recognised it as Jacob Hale's car. The Hales always tried real hard to stay away from SAMCRO (Deputy Hale not included), so whatever he wanted, it couldn't be good. Jacob didn't even get his car serviced at TM, he made it a point to go to the garage in the next town over.

Jacob bypassed Gemma and headed straight for Tig, the biker glared at him, all the while trying to figure out if he had done something that warranted the Hales attention. Jacob gave Tig a condescending smile as he watched the biker hand Zoe to the Prospect, who in turn scurried off to find Clay or Chibs and inform them that there was a Hale on the property.

"Jacob Hale," Tig said, "What brings you to this part of the world?"

"Tig," Jacob nodded, "Cute kid."

Tig scowled, "Keep your eyes off the kid."

"So the rumours are true, you're Zoe Sutherland's Daddy, aren't you a little old to be starting a family with a junkie?"

"Oh aye, aren't you a little too much of a weasel to be comin' round SAMCRO all on your own?" Chibs asked from behind the two men. The Scot was the first one that the Prospect had found when he rushed into the Clubhouse, and Chibs double timed it over to Tig, to make sure his brother didn't do anything stupid.

Jacob frowned and turned around, eyeing Chibs with contempt, "Chibs," Jacob scowled, "I'm not here to make trouble."

"What are you here for?" Tig asked, he had plans to take Zoe shopping with Gemma and wasn't about to have Jacob Hale derail that.

"I'm looking to purchase that _Charming_ little bakery in town."

"Doesn't explain why you're here, we don't own the bakery in town."

"No but the woman that does, Mia, it's to be believed that if she isn't at the bakery, she's here. And she's not at the shop today."

"She ain't here," Tig said.

Jacob grit his teeth, he hadn't met Mia before, but she'd derailed his plans for turning one of the streets in Charming into a block of apartments. He needed to find her and buy the bakery from her so that his deal wouldn't fall through with the contractors that he'd hired. "Well, where is she? No one in town seems to know."

"I don't see how that's your business," Chibs interrupted, he'd heard some grumblings about the Hales buying up properties in town, but here was Jacob, practically confirming it.

"I'm just looking to do a little business." Jacob said, backing away slightly from the two bikers.

"An' we'll be sure to let her know you dropped by," Chibs said.

"But if you're not here to do business with us," Tig cut in, "Get off our property."

Jacob sneered at the two, "Fine," he pulled out a business card and held it out for them, Chibs snatched it out of his hands, "give her this when she gets back from where ever she is." He turned on his heel and left before either of the bikers gave into the urge to punch him. (It used to happen, back when he was a kid, John Teller used to whale on him. David, his brother, used to tell him that he had a very 'punchable' face).

Chibs stood with Tig and they watched him get into his car and disappear around the corner, "We should talk to Clay." Tig said.

Chibs nodded, "If Hale is buyin' up places 'round town…"

"He's looking to try and expand Charming's population," Tig finished, "and that ain't happening on our watch." The two headed inside to find their President and give him the news.

* * *

Mia, Juice, Caleb, Harp, and Jax were gathered in Link's hospital room, Quinn was doing a sweep of the hospital while they were talking. "So we're all here now," Mia said, sitting in Juice's lap to make room for the others on the cot, "Who is this guy Link?"

Link sighed, she'd hoped that she'd never have to tell anyone about this, but now that she'd been attacked, whilst on a job no less, they needed to know. "His name is Alexander Davis, he hired me to do a little work for him five years ago. I spent a few months working for him before we got together, things were good at first, you know he treated me like I was fucking royalty. And then he changed, he got violent, really violent, he put me in the hospital and-"

"Sweetheart, what are you talking about? This guy's hurt you before? Why didn't you tell us?" Caleb asked, "Why didn't you tell me?" the idea that someone had hurt his baby sister enough to put her in the hospital and he didn't even know about it, made him sick.

"I just I felt so fucking stupid you know," she tucked her hair behind her ears and sniffled, she wasn't proud of it, but she was crying, "I didn't do a thorough background check into him, I didn't want it to seem like I didn't trust him, but if I had, I would have known what he was really like." Taking a sip of water she continued, "I tried to leave, after that first time he put me in hospital, but he stopped me before I could go, threatened me, threatened you guys, I was so fucking scared I stayed."

"You should have told us, we would have taken you away from him," Mia protested.

"I couldn't!" Link said, "You were in Charming, trying to keep your sister from killing Zoe in utero, and Harp was you know, doing certain things in a certain country for a certain government, I couldn't ask you to help me."

"Link," Mia said, climbing gently onto one side of the bed next to her friend, Harp joined them on her other side, "You can ask us for anything, we're family, if you had told us, if we knew what he was doing to you, we would have come for you."

"She's right Link, there's nothing that would ever stop me from doing everything to keep you safe, it doesn't matter where I was, what I was doing, I'll always come for you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I should have asked for help."

"What happened after that?" Jax asked, he could feel anger coursing through him at the thought of someone hurting Link like that, at the thought of anyone laying hands on her, and it wasn't going to stop until he knew that this guy was dead and buried.

"He took me home, kept me there, I bided my time, I waited, until he had a big contract, and I used his distraction as way to escape. I hacked his accounts and stole all of his money so that he couldn't follow me and left in the middle of the night. I don't know how he found me, there's no one better at covering tracks than me. No one knows who I am really, my real name, my past, anything and everything about me has been scrubbed of the internet, he shouldn't have been able to find me, find us, anywhere."

"Okay," Harp nodded, they would have to talk more about this in private, but for now they needed a plan, "we need to get out of here, the longer we're in Vegas, the more dangerous it is for us. I'll get us on a plane to France, we can hide out there while we figure this out."

"We can't leave!"

"You can't leave!" Jax and Link said at the same time.

"Why not?" Harp whirled on Jax, "This guy knows who we are, which means he knows where we live! We can't go back."

"We have to Harp," Mia said, "I've got Zoe, if this guy knows about us, then he knows about her, and legally I can't take her out of state before the custody case is over."

"We can't go," Link said, "Caleb has a job there, Mia has a life there, we've pumped all that money into the new offices, I don't want Alexander to have driven me out of my home."

"It's a bad idea," Harp replied, "going back to Charming, he'll know instantly."

"We'll keep you safe," Jax said, "Charming belongs to SAMCRO and you girls are Friends of the Club, going back is smart, we can provide muscle, call in the Nomads and Link can have round the clock protection, protection we trust. Harp I've seen you in Charming, you're building a life there, you can't let this guy take it away from you."

Harp sighed, there was no changing Link's mind when it was made up, she just hoped that this idea didn't come back to bite them in the arse. "Fine, but you call the Nomads right now, I want them back in town before we get back, Doc, you go talk to someone about getting Link transferred to St Thomas. Mia, find Quinn, fill him in on the plan, Juice," she turned to mohawked biker, "can you hack the hospital so that her records are deleted as soon as we leave?"

"Sure," Juice nodded.

"Hey! I can do that! I'm not an invalid," Link protested.

Harp shot her a glare, "Your hand is broken, it's going to take a while before your back in fighting shape." She looked around the room at everyone, "What are you all still sitting here for? Go! Go! Go!"

The foursome scrambled out of the room, not wanting to incur Harp's wrath, the Hitter was terrifying when angry. Mia grabbed Jax before she went to find Quinn, "Hey Jax."

"Yeah?"

"This protection, how much is it going to cost?"

"Mia I-"

"Jax we're going to be taking guys away from Club business, it's not fair to ask for it for free, look," she sighed, "work out a price and let me know, we'll pay it. If you don't I'll just go to Clay and ask him."

"Alright," Jax conceded. "I'll talk to Bobby and figure out a number."

"Good," Mia nodded before striding away.

"Shit!" Jax exclaimed slamming his fist into one of the hospital's walls, he didn't know why, but the feelings he got when he thought about Link, when he thought about her getting hurt, they were stronger than anything he'd every felt for Tara, and that didn't make sense to him, he'd known Tara for much longer, but he felt like her place in his heart was slowing being taken over by the injured red-head in the hospital bed. What did this mean for him? And more importantly, how was Gemma going to take it if he started dating on of Mia's friends? Shit, she would kill him!

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, I'm thinking of introducing Kozik to the girls when they get back to Charming, how do you think that Zoe will react to him? And how do you think that Tig will react with Koz around?
> 
> Please leave a comment or kudos!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise

It had taken two more days for Link to be cleared enough by the hospital to be transferred, with the money that was being thrown around by one of the girls, Link was set up in a helicopter, first thing in the morning, Harp and Caleb elected to go with her in the chopper. Jax and Juice had to take their bikes back anyway, but that meant that Mia was driving back with Quinn. The idea that Mia would be spending the next ten hours alone with Quinn in a confined space, where he could rag on Mia's boyfriend all he wanted, made Juice more uncomfortable than he could imagine. He didn't like Quinn, he didn't like the way that Quinn looked at Mia, he'd been so busy re-building Link's equipment, (they may have known who had attacked her, but they didn't know how he'd found her), he hadn't had the chance to talk to Mia about him. He didn't know whether Quinn and Mia had been a thing in the past, or if they were just friends, he didn't know if Quinn wanted Mia (but he thought Quinn would be stupid if he didn't), all he knew was that they'd met when she was 18, and had been in each other's lives since then.

Juice had never experienced the feeling of jealousy quite like this, sure he'd been jealous when a hot chick chose Jax or Tig or Chibs or Bobby over him because they were officers in the Club, and at one time he'd been jealous of Jax because he lived in the same town as his mum, when Juice could never go back to Queens to see his sister and his mum again. But this jealousy was nothing like that. When he saw Quinn and Mia together, he felt something bubble up inside him, it wasn't anger, or at least, it wasn't anger directed at Mia, it wasn't her fault that her friend was an arsehole who didn't like him. It was like a deep seeded feeling of…possession almost, maybe? He didn't think Mia was his possession, he wasn't that much of a dick, (plus he knew that if he ever thought of her that way she'd probably kick him in the nuts, and then leave him), but she was his girl, and the thought of someone who knew her for longer than him, possibly knew her better than him, the thought of Quinn taking her from him, it was enough to make him spiral. It had been almost eight months since all the stress of being the Intelligence Officer had gotten to him and he had spiralled, but just thinking about Mia in someone else's arms, well it was enough to make him start to go off the deep end. He was just thankful that he was heading back to Charming on his bike, the open air, and wind in his face helped to keep him calm.

"So," Quinn said, looking over at the driver's side, "What's the deal with you and this biker?"

"What do you mean 'what's the deal' with Juice and I?"

"Seriously Mia, the guy's in a fucking biker club, those guys are all about guns, drugs and pussy, they treat women like objects. We call guys like that dick bags, the girl I know would never be with someone that treats her like she's a belonging." He gave her a hard stare, there had to be something he was missing, according to Harp and Link, Mia and the biker had been together for almost two months, something had to be going on.

"Juice isn't like that," Mia replied, "and he definitely doesn't treat me like an object, besides you know me, if he did I'd totally kick his ass…or steal all his money. He's pretty smart, he's a hacker, a business owner and makes smart investments."

Quinn snorted in derision, "C'mon, he's not that smart," there was no way he could take Juice seriously. Yes, he would admit that the kid had skills behind a computer screen, but being a semi-decent hacker meant nothing when you were in a relationship with a woman like Mia. Criminally, Juice wasn't on the same level as Mia, not even close, Juice was a petty criminal, one that probably ran drugs or guns for other low-level offenders. But Mia, she was the best of the best, in the top three of the best thieves in the World, wanted in at least three different countries, and she made the type of money that really reflected her standing in the less than legal community. Quinn just couldn't understand why she was slumming it with guy like Juice.

Mia sighed, "Juice may not be in my league when we're talking about crime, but he's wonderful, he's kind and funny, and smart, and he's so good with Zoe, he was the first person she opened up to after I took her in. Not to mention he's hot, he is so hot, like I can't even concentrate on anything else when he's not wearing a shirt hot, sometimes he can be wearing a tank top and I'll completely lose my train of thought."

"Like you're doing now," Quinn cut in, sighing, "I get it, the guy's amazing, I don't need to know about how attractive you think he is."

"You asked," Mia rolled her eyes, she didn't understand why Quinn had such a problem with Juice, yes it took Harp and Link a little while to warm up to him, but neither of them had acted like Quinn, whatever his problem was, she didn't have time to stress over it at this particular moment, she had much more to be worried about than if one of her friends didn't like her boyfriend.

* * *

The guys were on their bikes in front of Mia's car, they'd been on the road for about four hours when Jax motioned for them to pull into the services on the side of the highway. Juice was glad his brother had pulled them over for a break, his arse was getting numb, not to mention that he had spent the past four hours worrying about what Quinn was saying to Mia, and he just wanted to hold her, reassure himself that Quinn hadn't talked her into breaking up with him.

They parked their bikes and Mia pulled into the lot next to them, Juice stood up and stretched out, they were still six hours outside Charming and it would take them a while to get back, they'd sped all the way to Vegas when they had no idea what had happened to the girls, but Harp and Caleb were with Link now, keeping her safe. Link wasn't in any immediate danger, so they'd opted for a slower pace to go home.

Mia got out and walked over to him, while Jax and Quinn headed inside the diner they'd parked next to. When she'd pulled in, she'd seen the look on Juice's face, something had wound him up, but she didn't know what, and the last thing she wanted was for him to freak out when they were basically in the middle of nowhere. He'd told her about what would happen to him if he was wound too tight and she didn't have anything on her to help him relax. "Hey," she gave him a smile, wrapping her arms around his waist, "You good?" she asked. He wasn't, but Juice liked to be able to open up about something on his own terms.

Juice let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and pulled her closer to him, he wanted to talk to Mia, but right now was not a good time, he'd talk to her when they were back at home, probably in bed, (it completely escaped his notice that he'd thought about Mia's house as home). "I'm fine," he replied, tightening his grip on her, "I'm just tired, and my ass is numb," he added as an afterthought.

"Awe Babe," Mia smiled, she had a feeling that that wasn't the issue, but she wasn't going to pressure him, "You need me to make it better?" her hands slipped into the back pockets of his jeans and gave his arse a squeeze, "Do you need me to give you a massage?" she asked cheekily.

Juice groaned as he felt her hands on him, "Shit Mia, don't turn me on now, do you know how difficult it is to ride with a hard on?" he asked.

Mia grinned, pressing her face against his chest, "Alright," she moved her hands away from his arse and rest them on his back, "Let's go get something to eat then," she went to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip on her.

"Well I didn't mean we have to go anywhere straight away," he back tracked, he didn't want to let her go just yet.

"Oh really, what do you have in mind then?"

Juice brushed his lips across hers in a soft kiss at first, deepening it as soon Mia wrapped her arms around his neck. Mia let out a little moan as he pressed against her, pulling back to catch his breath, "You're so fucking beautiful," he whispered.

Mia smiled, "You're pretty hot yourself."

"Yeah?" he grinned.

"Distractingly hot," she replied, "I burned a whole batch of cookies cus I was thinking about your delicious abs."

Gripping her hips Juice kissed her again, "You do wonders for my ego Baby."

"HEY LOVEBIRDS EITHER GET IN HERE AND GET SOMETHING TO EAT OR GET A ROOM!" Jax yelled from the doorway of the diner, they still had a way to go and he had a feeling they'd be doing this at every stop.

Pulling apart, Mia scowled at Jax, "DON'T HATE US BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T HAD SEX IN A WEEK JACKSON!" she yelled back causing Juice to snicker, before looking back at her boyfriend, "I love you."

"I love you," he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and they headed inside.

Jax was sat in the diner next to Quinn with his arms crossed, scowling (pouting) at the two as they entered, "I hate you both," he muttered, unable to look at the hot server who he'd been flirting with right up until Mia had yelled back at him.

"Aw Jax, we love you too." Juice grinned, sitting down with them.

* * *

Link had just been settled into her room at St Thomas, Caleb was in there with her, checking her stitches and changing her bandages, it was something that a nurse would usually do but she was his little sister, and he hadn't been there to stop her getting hurt, he felt like he couldn't be away from her. Harp had left them in the hospital room, while she was having a meeting with Clay at the Clubhouse, he'd sent the Prospect Half Sack and one of the guys from the Tacoma Charter to stand guard while she was gone.

So there she was, sat in the SAMCRO Clubhouse, at the table in the chapel, surrounded by the men of SAMCRO excluding Jax and Juice, Frankie Diamonds was there as a representative of the Nomads, he'd brought Happy with him and seeing as how the Unholy One was considered the deadliest out of every member of the Sons of Anarchy, Harp was pleased he was there. The S.A.A of SAMTAC, Kozik, was also there, it appeared that Jax had spared no expense when he asked Clay to put together some protection for Link, and she wasn't going to complain about it, Link was her family, and she would do anything to protect her family.

She had been explaining to the guys, who had attacked Link and why when Bobby interrupted her. "You said it had been going for over a year but you and the girls, you're closer than some families, why didn't you see it?"

Harp grit her teeth in anger, it was a touchy subject, she still wasn't over the fact that she hadn't been there to protect Link in the first place, and now she had to explain it to all of these men, men she didn't know, not really anyway. She'd spent time with Juice of course, Tig and Jax, but the rest, she barely knew, hell she'd slept with Happy more than once and didn't even know his real name. Jax was pretty clear with her, that he hadn't told the Club about what she and the girls did for a living _yet_ , so she wouldn't be revealing much. "Mia was here in Charming, this happened when Ava was pregnant and Mia didn't leave her sister's side, she wanted to make sure that Ava didn't kill Zoe before she was born."

"And you?" Bobby prompted.

"I was, I am… on occasion I work for the government," she could see the men stiffen and rushed to explain, "not for like law enforcement, or at least not in America," she sighed, "I would work overseas, do some work for the military, or private contractors, or the CIA sometimes, I do things that others don't."

Before anyone could ask what those things were, Happy piped up, "You mean like Wetwork?" he asked, all the guys knew what that was code for.

Harp nodded but wouldn't confirm it verbally, "At the time I was _not_ stationed in another country, I did _not_ work for the government, where I did _not_ spend my year doing things that were very, _very_ illegal." Her emphasis on certain words told them that she couldn't say what she was doing or where she was, but it was enough for them to realise that she wasn't in a position to help Link at the time. "She never told us, I was doing my thing and Mia was looking after her sister, Link said that she didn't want to tell us, said that she was scared of him, and ashamed that she'd fallen into his trap so easily. But now he's back, and until we find him, she needs protection."

Clay spoke up then, his eyes calculating, there was obviously stuff that she still wasn't telling them, he'd resolved to get it out of Juice later, but for now he wanted to know just how far she was willing to go for her friend, "If you have that kind of training, why can't you protect her?"

Harp looked at the SAMCRO President, it was a fair question for sure, but it was definitely a loaded one, "I can't keep an eye on her and find this arsehole, I have connections in places you've never even heard of before, but I can't use them, because he knows us. He knew where we'd be, he knew she'd be alone, he knew I couldn't get to her in time. All of that means that he's done some major research on us, and he's got plenty of resources, he knows where we'd go to get help, he knows how I'd look for him. So I need to work this another way. Asking you guys for help isn't something that he'd think we'd ever do, because it's not."

"And if you find him?"

" _When_ I find him, I'll deal with him, permanently."

"Alright," Clay nodded in acceptance, of course they were going to help the girls, he'd already agreed on a price for the Club's protection services, and it was a pretty hefty price, they'd all be sitting on a nice cushion of dough for the next six months at least. He looked over his brothers who were in varying states of unrest, while Harp hadn't spent much time around them, Link had, and they all liked her. Not to mention, they didn't take kindly to some guys beating the shit out of a girl. "I want two guys on each of the girls at all times, we've also got the Doc to protect," Clay continued (it would benefit them all to be in the good graces of an honest to God surgeon), "and Zoe, if this guy knows you, then there's a good bet he knows about her."

"I won't need anybody," Harp said.

"You're paying for protection for _all_ of you," Bobby said.

"As soon as there's a protection detail in place and Mia's back in Charming, I'm headed out of town, I have connections who have connections that Alexander won't know about. And I'll have someone else with my skill set with me."

Clay looked like he wanted to argue, but if she was headed out of town, there was only so much he could do, "Fine, Tig, obviously you'll be on Zoe, Bobby will go with you." Tig nodded, Zoe was asleep at that moment, with Gemma watching over her, "Kozik, you and Jax will be on Link, no one gets into her room, unless they've been checked out first, the Prospect will stay with you until Jax gets back. Happy, you and Juice will be with Mia, and Frankie," he looked over at the other Nomad, "you and Lorca cover the Doc. He's Link's brother so if this asshole's going to go after anyone else he'll probably be first on the list. The rest of will have to cover things at the Garage, and I'll head over to the station, give Unser a quick head's up." The guys all signalled their agreement and everyone apart from Happy, whose charge hadn't arrived yet, left to go and take up their assigned posts.

Harp left the chapel, with Happy following her, "Hey," Happy said, pulling her into a corner of the Club, away from any prying eyes, "You good?" he asked. He could tell she was tense, and he was probably one of the few that understood why, as the Nomads enforcer it wasn't just his job to take care of any problems the Club had, he was also a protector, it was his job to keep the people he cared about safe, so he understood that right now Harp was feeling like a failure.

"I'm fine," she pulled her arm out of his grip, she wasn't about to look weak in front of him.

"Hey!" Happy pulled her to him, in the dim lights of the Club it would be difficult for anyone to see what was going on between them, "Harp look at me!"

She whirled on him, eyes ablaze, "What?!" she whispered yelled at him, he'd been staring at her since she'd gotten to the Clubhouse, she could feel his eyes on her every movement and it made her tense, "What could you possibly have to say to me now?!" and a tense Harp, was not pleasant to be around.

Happy fought the urge to push her up against the wall and shut her up with his mouth, she was being a bitch, "You're not going anywhere alone," he couldn't explain the urge he had to keep her safe.

"You don't get to tell me what to do Happy, and I can take care of myself." She moved to walk away but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him.

"When we said we'd protect you, we meant _all_ of you, so until you leave town, I'm sticking with you." He growled out in reply.

Harp was fuming, how dare he put his hands on her like that! How dare he think that she _needed him_ , she wanted to yell at him, she wanted to hurt him, instead she found her mouth attached to his in a furious kiss. There was something about the fact that he thought that he could protect her that turned her on, no one she'd ever been with before thought that they could protect her, not when they found out what she did for a living. She shoved the older man against the wall, she let herself enjoy the kiss for a little longer before pulling back and punching him the stomach, "Don't ever grab me like that again." She stormed off before he could stop her.

Tig, who'd seen the latter part of their interaction grinned at the shocked look on Happy's face, it looked like he'd finally met his match, "You good bro?" he asked.

Happy shot him a glare before following after her, muttering under his breath about crazy bitches.

_'Oh yeah,'_ Tig thought, _'Those two are definitely going to be interesting.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter this time, the next one will be longer I promise!


End file.
